Encore: Revolution
by Megafighter3
Summary: The sequel to Encore: Initiation. Teams RWBY and JNPR have returned to Beacon for another year of training, but a sudden murder leads them to a deeper conspiracy to destroy the Kingdom of Vale. New friends, new foes and new adventures in this rewrite of RWBY: Volume 2.
1. Renewal II, Part 1

A biting chill blew through the Kingdom of Vale, the remnants of a week-long blizzard dropping down on the buildings blanketed in white. The townsfolk were wrapped in heavy coats, long scarves and warm hats as they walked through the Market Quarter, buying food and decorations as Renewal drew closer. Bright, colorful lights hung from streetlights and gutters, pine trees tied to the tops of cars stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic, the echoing of an annoyed man's bell rang through the air as he asked for donations with a bucket of Lien. "Come on, folks! Give a coin and help out the less fortunate!" he shouted out, before saying "And so I can go home" under his breath. He soon heard the clink of Lien coins and looked to see a young woman in front of him.

The woman stood close to his height, aided by her dark brown high-heeled boots She was dressed in a long white jacket, dark brown pants and a long green scarf around her neck, draping over the back of one of her shoulders, a silver fur cap atop her head and covering her ears. The annoyed donation collector was looking into her hazel eyes, seeing her warm smile, her caramel-colored skin slightly visible under the streetlights.

"Happy Renewal!" she said cheerfully, giving a friendly wave to the collector. He let out a long sigh, a cloud of cold breath billowing from his mouth. "Hey, cheer up! It's a time of giving and helping out! This is goin' to charity right? Act like it, you grump." she said with a laugh, wrapping her arm around his back and giving him a quick squeeze. The man looked at her with a puzzled expression, the woman chuckling and moving her hand away. "And speaking of helping," the scarfed woman continued, circling around the collector carefully so as not to trip on her long neckwear. "I'm looking for this bookstore that a friend of mine recommended, I think it was Tukson's Book Trade. You know the way?" she asked, the man reaching up just underneath his hat to scratch his forehead.

"Head three blocks down the road and turn right, it's next to the coffee shop; you can't miss it." he said, the woman smiling and walking off with another wave of her hand. As she walked, she heard a low chuckle from a nearby alley, stopping and turning to see a young man in a black pilot's jacket with a white fur collar, matching black pants, boots and neatly combed silver hair with black roots. "Of all the people in this posh, stuck up town… You mark some poor sap asking for charity." he said with a smirk. She pulled the wallet out of her pocket, softly digging through its belongings without looking up at him. "Charity is kind of pointless, why give money to people who don't get anything useful?" She said, the man softly tucking his hands into his pockets to keep his bare hands warm. "Like what?"

"Seeing how much I can bribe you to stop being a smartass with me." she said, the man rolling his eyes. "You haven't got enough Lien in the world, Emerald. Anyway, you wouldn't be a 'master thief' if you didn't have me as a lookout." he said, Emerald pocketing money from the pouch and pointing it at him. "Mercury, If I give you 20 Lien, will you give me five minutes of silence?" Emerald asked, the man shaking his head as they turned the block. "If you gave me 35 we might be onto something." he offered, Emerald sighing and pouring the coins into her own pouch at her side. "I hate you…" she muttered, Mercury grabbing her hat and running ahead. "You love it!" he called, Emerald blinking as she realized what he did and chasing after him. "Mercury! I will bury you in the snowbank!" she shouted as she chased after him. They stopped just before the doors, Emerald forcefully taking the hat back and putting it on her head. "Now's not the time for your temper, Em. We got work to do." Mercury said, Emerald growling and opening the door.

Once inside, they saw an front room lit with a warm, orange, inviting glow. Wreaths and small ferns littered the room with books new and old lining the shelves. "Smells like every mold in the world…" Mercury commented under his breath, before Emerald butted him with her elbow. She walked over to the counter where a box wrapped in purple wrapping with little black cats printed on rested by the bell, ringing the bell three times. Through the back doors stepped out a middle-aged man with short black hair, black muttonchops and hazel eyes carrying a stack of books, setting them down on the counter6 The man was dressed in an unzipped crimson jacket. "Welcome to Tukson's Book Trade, home to every book under the sun, we're doing a big Renewal sale on specific titles. How can-" he began, stopping his regularly recited speech and turning his head over his customer's shoulder. He thought he saw her reflection in the store window, moving slightly across the shelves, but shook his head, muttering about how "this holiday's getting to me" and turned his head back to Emerald.

"Good evening, I was looking to pick up a gift for a friend. I think she'd like a nice book to read. You've got _Violet's Garden_?" Emerald asked, Tukson nodding and pointing toward a nearby shelf. Emerald rubbed her chin, looking at the ceiling and shaking her head. "Hrm… I don't know, maybe she wouldn't want that? How about _The Thief and the Butcher_?" she asked, Tukson pointing to another shelf. "Paperback and hardcover." he said, Emerald nodding and smiling. "Options are good… but maybe not that one either…" she muttered, Tukson letting out a grunt of annoyance. "Oh! Hold on! Hey Merc, what do you think Cinder would want?" Emerald asked, turning to Mercury, who stood by the front door, reading one of the books he grabbed off the front shelves.

Tukson choked back a gasp, Mercury looking up from the book. "Well, let's see… I'd say… _A History of Tombs_." he said, Tukson gripping his fists. "You know, Tukson. Renewal is a time of giving and appreciating what you've been given. Cinder gave you papers to become an honorary citizen. She gave you the starting money for this store. She paid off council members to keep your shipments from being inspected, and how do you show your appreciation? How do you repay her?" Emerald asked, bending forward and drawing herself closer to the shaken bookstore owner. "Look, kid, my business with Cinder isn't up for you to de-" he began, Emerald slamming her hands down onto the counter.

"You skip out on delivering Dust and weapon shipments! You buy a ticket to Vacuo and start packing your bags! You're trying to run out on us!" she shouted, snarling at Tukson. Tukson calmly glared at her, cracking his knuckles. "Listen! I only needed to do jobs for her to keep the store afloat! It took a while to turn a profit off my stock and giving you guys the Dust kept doors open! I'm not a dog you can kick around and pull on a leash until he obeys! I'm my own man and I'm telling you and your little friend to get-" Tukson said before his sight became an unfocused blur surrounded by dots of flashing lights. He shut his eyes tightly, opening them to see a blade jabbed to the side of his neck. "Nobody cares about excuses." She said, slashing in one quick slice deep enough to slash his larynx, massive gushes of blood splattering his coat, the desk and the floor as he grabbed Emerald's arm, lunging his head down and biting his fangs deep into the flesh of her arm.

"G-Gaaahahh!" She shouted in pain as his jaws bit deep enough to hit the bone, her own blood splattering onto her arm as his blood nearly geysered out of each side of his neck. Mercury hopped the desk quickly, grabbing him by the jacket and tugging as he slowly faded out of consciousness and lose strength in his jaws. Mercury kicked him in the head, sending him onto the floor in a pile of his own blood. "Damn it, the bastard bit me!" She exclaimed, using her scarf and wrapping the green fabric around her maimed arm to stop the bleeding. "We got to stop the flow or they'll follow the blood." Merc calmly stated, Emerald tucking the bloodied scarf under one arm. "Let's just burn this and leave." She said, much calmer than she was earlier.

The two stepped into the backroom of the store, Emerald pouring more red powder onto the floor as they looked for an exit. They stepped out the backdoor, the wounded killer reaching into her pocket and pulling out a glowing orange-red crystal, smashing it against the metal frame of the door before throwing it back into the store. Emerald pulled out a chained sickle, spinning it quickly in her good arm and throwing it onto the room of nearby building, the sickle catching on the gutter. "Hrm… it's got enough hold, but we'll have to climb carefully or it'll tear through the gutter." she said to her partner, who simply fidgeted slightly and grabbed onto the chain, putting his foot onto the wall to support his lower body. "You grab my shoulders, there's no way you're making it up there on that arm." he said, Emerald nodding and gently grabbing onto his shoulders.

Mercury climbed slowly, putting his feet onto the wall and taking careful steps, lifting his partner off the ground. Emerald swung her legs forward, wrapping them around Mercury's waist and pulling herself closer to him, arms resting against his chest and neck on his shoulder. "You'd better hold on tight." Mercury said with a smirk. "Just climb, you dimwit." she shot back, Mercury chuckling and climbing as the light of the store grew brighter, the crackling of fire growing louder in their ears. Mercury came to a stop, his breath growing faster his body shaking. "Hey Merc! We gotta get climb before the rest of the Dust goes up! Move it!" Emerald shouted, Mercury shutting his eyes and continuing to hyperventilate. "Mercury! If you don't feel like going to jail, then climb!" she shouted, shuffling her legs and slamming her knees into his sides.

Mercury shot open his eyes, scrambling up the chain and bringing the two up to the roof, dropping Emerald and running to the far end of the roof. With a glass shattering bang that Mercury felt deep in his stomach, the bookstore became engulfed in a cloud of bright flames, Emerald watching in silent awe before turning to her terrified compatriot and putting a hand on his shoulder. "C'mon, we've got to get back to Beacon before anyone sees us." she said, Mercury slowing his breathing and shutting his eyes. "R-right… but we're getting your arm treated before we go. If anyone asks, you got attacked by a wolf.." he said, looking to Emerald's scarf-wrapped arm turning more red. "A wolf? Everyone says that. Can I be attacked by a puma?." she replied, Mercury rolling his eyes. "...A puma? Fine, you were attacked by a puma in the middle of a busy city during the holiday seasons." he said sarcastically. "Yeah, something like that…" Emerald said with a dazed smile, Mercury taking her arm and putting it over his shoulders to help her walk as they went to get her treated.

The blare of a firetruck rang out as it passed by Beacon Academy, Ruby turning her head from the snowman she was working on to watch the blinking lights. "Oh man… a fire on Renewal? I hope everyone's alright…" she said, before hearing Jaune's voice from a distance. "The firefighters in this town do a pretty good job, they'll be fine." He said, moving past a snowbank to reveal he was hauling an entire wheelbarrow of snowballs. "But more importantly, Can someone help me get the other wheelbarrows!? I've been hauling all of them myself!" he shouted, looking around the area. "...Jaune, how long have you been making those?" Weiss asked, glancing up from the book she was reading from underneath a dead, snow-covered tree. "Long enough, Weiss… Long enough." He said, his eyes narrowing to a glare at the white clad huntress. "We are going to be in war, and war requires ammunition!" Jaune exclaimed, punching down and squishing some of the snowballs in the wheelbarrow.

"...I thrt snrbrl fights were just srmthing you do for fun." Blake said, a bit flabbergasted at the hundreds of snowballs from behind her overly poofy coat and long, bright orange scarf. Ruby quickly feigned backing away slowly, putting her hand in front of her mouth to whisper to Jaune and Weiss. "Don't move… there's a giant penguin talking to us…" she whispered, Weiss putting her hand to her face and letting out high-pitched, artificial laugh. "Ohohohhoho~ It's fine, Ruby. We can just throw her a fish and she'll leave us alone." she replied, Blake grumbling and pulling the scarf off her mouth and setting around her neck. "I didn't have a lot of winter clothes to work with, okay?" she said, the gathered hunters laughing before being cut off by the joyous holler of Nora.

"INCOMING TOBOGGAN!" She shouted, her sled leaping over a snow packed ramp and over Jaune's head. Jaune shouted, covering his head and getting down on his knees so it wouldn't hit him in his face. "Hey Jaune." Ren said, waving with one hand while in the air as the toboggan landed on the ground, pushing up a small wave of snow that nearly covered the two teams as Pyrrha raced over to join the others, carrying a wheelbarrow of snow. "Here's the other wheelbarrow, Jaune!" she said, lining hers up with his. Jaune smiled and nodded to Pyrrha before walking over to the snow ramp, Ruby following after him and putting up the hood of her prized red cloak. Jaune adjusted his green and yellow striped hat before he puffed his chest out.

"Alright, here's the rules." Jaune said, lifting one of his gloved hands, his index finger extended. "We will be in teams of two, the reason why is because I'm kind of tired of everything being four." he explained, Ruby nodding in agreement. "We do use four a lot, so 2 v. v. 2 v. 2 v. 2 would make for a more fun game.""The teams will be Thunder Dragon, Team Penguin," Jaune began, Blake growling under her scarf. "Masters of Remnant and… wait a minute, where's Yang?" he asked before hearing the roar of an engine ring out through the darkness.

The gathered hunters were struck by the flash of a motorcycle headlight and turned to see Hornet charging up to them, making a sharp turn, creating another wave of drifting snow as she stopped in front of them, snow hitting the team leaders. "Damn it!" Jaune said, wiping the snow off his shoulders before the water seeped in and made him cold. Ruby looked to her sister, seeing her dressed in a brand new black leather biker jacket, long yellow scarf, brown pants and heavy black boots with black-tinted goggles covering the rest of her face. Her long blonde hair was tucked into her bright yellow helmet.

Ruby's older sister pulled up the black-tinted goggles over her head, blue eyes winking at the Huntsman and Huntress in front of. "'Sup, Jaune? Do I know how to make an entrance or what?" Yang asked with big grin. "...You know Hornet's tires aren't meant for snow, right?" Blake pointed out as Yang stopped the bike and stepped off, pointing her thumb firmly into her shoulder. "It'll be fi-" She said, the bike immediately slipping out and falling over. "...ne. Okay, maybe you were right about that." She said quietly, before turning back to the annoyed Jaune as he practiced his best frown and folded arms pose. "What're we doing?" She asked, removing her helmet and flipping her hair back, which made her sister roll her eyes. "Snowball fight. Today. We had it scheduled for TODAY since it wasn't a blizzard, remember? The reason why it was TODAY is because we've been waiting a whole week." Jaune said, vexed at the blonde Huntress' flippancy at failing to remember their scheduled snowball fight.

"Oh, cool. So, it's RWBY vs. JNPR, right?" she asked, Jaune sighing and putting his hat over his eyes. "No, we're doing teams of two. We've done four on four games too much since coming back, Ruby and I wanted to change it up. The teams are Thunder Dragon, Team Penguin, Masters of Remnant and Crescent Sun!" Jaune explained, Yang nodding and sitting down. "...Who?" she asked, Ruby letting out a groan. "Thunder Dragon is Ren and Nora, Ren is a dragon and Nora has thunder! Team-" Ruby began before Yang cut her off. "How is Ren a dragon?" the older sister inquired. "He likes green, dragons are green, he's a dragon! Now if you let me finish…" The younger sister raved, pointing to Blake and Weiss. "They are Team Penguin, it explains itself! Blake is a penguin, and Weiss is a penguin sycophant." she said, Weiss shouting back "...Do you even know what that word means?"

"Shut up, Weiss! We've been working on this all week! Jaune and Pyrrha are Masters of Remnant because… well… I don't know, Jaune just really wanted to be called that." she said, Jaune turning and scowling at her. "And we're Crescent Sun because I have Crescent Rose and you're like a walking sun." she finished, Yang quietly scratching her head and then letting out a long-drawn "Ohhhhhhhh" before finally nodding and smiling. "Alright, now that we're clear on that, Pyrrha. It's time for… The document." Jaune said, with a dramatic pause for emphasis. Pyrrha stood up, stepping onto the ramp opening her coat to remove a folded piece of paper from an inner pocket, unfolding it and clearing her throat.

"Rule 1… Both ...pla… All parti…" She said, trying to read it a couple of times before she quietly walked back over to Jaune. "Uhh… Jaune?" She asked, Jaune looked over at her, his hand scratching underneath his hat. "What's wrong with the rules?" Jaune asked. "I can't read your handwriting… It's kind of squiggly." She admitted with a frown, Jaune bit his lip, grabbing the paper from her and getting back up on the ramp. "Fine, I'll do it, jeez..." He cleared his throat, trying to hit a deeper voice than his usual tenor. "Okay, rule one! We cannot make snowballs, we can only acquire them from the wheelbarrows provided in the center. You can only make snowballs once we run out of the wheelbarrow." Jaune began, Yang raising her hand. "...Yang, there isn't questions in the ru-" he said, Yang dropping her hand. "If there are four teams, why are there only two wheelbarrows? Are you that bad at counting to four?" she asked, Jaune's fists tightening and crinkling the document slightly.

"It's a design choice! It's meant to add a challenge to obtaining ammo! And you try finding four wheelbarrows and filling them with snow!" he snapped, taking a deep breath. "Right… onto rule two." He said, ignoring anyone else trying to speak up. "You can be hit three times, if you are hit three times, you can no longer participate. If both of your team's members get hit three times, that team is out." He continued, looking at the seven other participants. "And the third rule… You're supposed to be hitting each other with snowballs, punching people is not allowed… Yang." Jaune said, Ruby giving her sister an evil eye from under her cloak, remembering all the years snowball fights ended in black eyes. "Final rule, Semblances are allowed, as long as they don't hurt anyone or any bystanders… Nora." he said, Nora sticking her tongue out at him in response.

"Now, with the rules understood, we start on three. Everyone get in position!" he ordered, Ruby jumping off the ramp and running toward a nearby tree with her sister in tow. Blake and Weiss got up, running toward the school, Blake unzipping her heavy jacket as they ran. Ren climbed onto Nora's back, the two running to the embankments near Beacon's walkways. Jaune slid off the ramp, springing back to his feet and being joined by Nora. "So, where are we headed?" she asked, Jaune turning and heading north of Crescent Sun's tree toward the stone archway leading to the moat, the water of the moat frozen from the cold. "I've marked Crescent Sun as the best team to go against due to their experience in snowball fighting. Ruby will probably be the one headed to gather snowballs, so we take her out and we force Yang out of hiding and the rest will be easier to take on. On top of that, if we spend time acquiring snowballs and letting the other teams eliminate each other, we have the advantage." he explained, Pyrrha nodding in agreement as they stopped at the pillar.

"I'll take to throwing, you focus on gathering snowballs. Ready?" Jaune asked his partner. "I'm ready." she said, Jaune clearing his throat. "One… two…. THREE!" he called out, signaling the beginning of what would be the best snowball fight Beacon Academy had ever seen before. Ever.


	2. Renewal II, Part 2

"Alright, you head on toward the wheelbarrows and grab the ammunition. If you spot Ruby, take shots at her and run back. Don't go for immediate knockout or you'll become an open target." Jaune said to Pyrrha, who nodded and turned the corner of the pillar, running out into the open and toward the closest wheelbarrow. The Atlesian Huntress gathered snowballs, carefully cradling them in under her chest when Jaune's voice echoed from the pillar. "TIME OUT! Time out, guys! Meet at the wheelbarrows!" he called out, the four teams heading to the wheelbarrows at his request.

"Ruby, where are the carrying bags?" he asked, Ruby putting up a finger before her eyes widened. "The bags! Hang on!" she said, speeding off toward the academy and rushing through the door. "I knew I forgot something! Stupid duffel bags!" Ruby muttered as she raced the halls, crashing into another figure in her blind search for the bags. "Ack! Sorry about that! You okay?" Ruby asked as she lifted herself off of Emerald, Mercury helping his partner to her feet. "You know there's rules are about running in the halls, right kid?" he said with a smirk, Emerald rolling her eyes. "Sorry, just in a hurry to grab some duffel bags for our snowball fight. You two want to join us?" Ruby offered.

"Would, but I can't do too much with this arm." Emerald said, turning slightly to show the bloodied bandages, Mercury's eyes widening and lips stiffening before he quickly turned his head, covering his mouth to feign coughing. "Whoa, what happened to you, Emerald?" the young Huntress asked, looking over the bandages, white mixed with browning red. "Uh… can opener accident. You gotta be careful with those things, they can bite back." Emerald explained, Merc lightly elbowing the back of her good arm. Ruby looked at the two before nodding in agreement. "Yeah, I cut hand once on one of those. It's why I like electric can openers more. They're so spinny." she said, laughing slightly before noticing the odd stares from Emerald and Mercury, her laughter turning into weak chuckles, an awkward silence holding over the three for a few minutes before Ruby cleared her throat.

"Wait, didn't I see you guys heading out the gate? When did you get sliced with a can opener?" Ruby asked, Emerald's eyes shifting slightly "I was opening a can for… a soup kitchen! Yeah, a soup kitchen! We were helping out those less fortunate!" Emerald said, tension for the criminal duo rising as Ruby rubbed her chin, looking in Emerald's eyes before smiling. "That's so nice of you guys!" Ruby said, Mercury running his fingers through his hair and letting out a relieved sigh.

"Anyway, I'd better get going. It's getting late and I gotta get the bags! Happy Renewal!" Ruby said, bolting off and leaving the lying Hunters in the halls. "...She bought it! She actually bought it! How did she? I mean, it was- man, this is gonna be easy, huh Merc?" Emerald said with an excite smile, stunned by Ruby's naivete. "...These are supposed to be the defenders of mankind… and she just fell for the worst lie." her partner replied, Emerald's smile dropping and turning into a scowl. "...Shut up, Mercury." she spat before heading for the dining hall.

Ruby scrambled into team RWBY's dorm, reaching under her bed and pulling out a set of four duffel bags, putting two straps to each shoulder, adjusting her black hat and batting a bit at the the puffball on top before flipping on her hood and running out of the room. Her run was hampered by having to carrying the bags, nearly tripping a few times as she made it back to the door where Jaune was waiting, grabbing two bags. "Everyone grab a bag!" Jaune shouted, throwing bags to Ren and Blake. "Okay, bags are in the game! Everyone resume position!" Ruby called as she ran back to her and Yang's tree. Blake and Weiss leaned against the wall, waving off Thunder Dragon and Masters of Remnant as they made their way back to their bases. "All ready?!" Ruby asked, waiting as the other teams confirmed. "All right! Snowball fight for real this time! One! Two! THREE!" she shouted, resuming the game.

Pyrrha rushed out from the pillar and to the wheelbarrow, loading her bag with as many snowballs as she could. "Hey Pyrrha!" Yang shouted, catching the Atlesian champion's attention. "Snow's over, superstar!" she called, launching a snowball from each hand. Pyrrha's normally sharp reflexes were dulled by her confusion at Yang's pun, taking two snowballs to the face and hitting the snow. "Yeah! Got 'er!" Yang called, grabbing another two balls and charging for the front entrance. Pyrrha wiped off the snow from her face, moving to get up when she spotted Jaune gesturing his palm downward, Pyrrha quickly lying down on the cold, wet snow. Her partner scouted the area, looking until he saw and pointing her to the designated Tree of Defeat. Pyrrha quickly ran for the tree, Jaune turning his attention to the rest of the fight.

"Alright! There goes Pyrrha, now for Blake!" she shouted, rushing for Beacon's front entrance. "Yaaaaang! This is a war of attrition! You can't go marching off into enemy lines!" Ruby cried, trying to wave her sister back to their side. "Heh! I've already knocked Pyrrha out! I think I can take the Ice Queen and the Penguin!" her older sister called back. Blake looked up from her book, glaring at the boisterous blonde. "Alright, forget our plan of leaving the game. We're taking out Yang." Blake said, Weiss turning and nodding.

"So, what's the plan?" she asked, Blake pointing to the wall. "Place a black glyph here." the Faunus huntress said, running a finger along the wall to give Weiss a quick measurement. Weiss quickly nodded and set a black glyph onto the wall, Blake grabbing three snowballs and throwing them onto the glyph, the glyphs holding them in the air. "When I give the signal, change the glyph to launch them." Blake commanded, turning her eyes to the charging Yang. Yang stomped her way to Team Penguin, gripping a snowball in each hand when Blake shouted "Now!"

Weiss changed the glyphs to white, the halted snowballs accelerating toward Yang, who grabbed the first one in her hand. "Not the first time I had to deal with a ranged oppo-" She was immediately hit in the face with a second snowball. "Weiss! Finishing blow!" Blake said, tossing two more snowballs into the glyph and preparing them to fire. "Finishing blow!" Weiss shouted, firing the snowballs again at a high speed. "That was my face you stupid litt-" Yang shouted, before getting hit in the stomach, and once again in the face. Yang let out an annoyed yell and walked off for the Tree of Defeat.

"Hah! We did it, Blake!" Weiss exclaimed happily, hugging her friend in sheer joy. "Hahahaha! Don't get too excited, Weiss. We haven't won yet. There's still a chance we-" Blake began as she slipped out of Weiss' hug, a flurry of snowballs passing by their faces as Team Penguin separated, a snowball catching Weiss in the side of the head. "-could be attacked." Weiss said, finishing Blake's sentence as Ren and Nora charged out from where Yang had fallen, Ren mounted onto Nora's back with a loaded bag of snowballs. Team Penguin loaded another trio of snowballs, launching them straight for the two. Ren carefully positioned himself, bending his knees and softly digging his heels into his partner's back. "Sleeping Sloth Soundly Slumbers!" Ren shouted, Nora quickly dropping to her knees and Ren launching himself into the air, unzipping the bag and nearly launching half of the snowballs in one swing.

"Weiss! Down!" Blake shouted, pushing Weiss into the snow as she was pelted with a flurry of falling snowballs, Blake was launched onto her back, sliding several feet along the snow covered ground. "Blake! No! Stay with me!" the Schnee heiress cried out, lost in the energy of the snowball fight. She scrambled to brush off as much snow on her partner's coat, Blake grabbing her wrist. "Weiss… it's too late for me... Ren's blasted me with over twenty snowballs…" she said with faux theatrics, unzipping her coat. "I need you to keep fighting… to carry on the legacy of Team Penguin…" Blake said with a soft smile, taking off her jacket and putting it around Weiss. Weiss smiled back and pulled the jacket closer, Blake throwing the orange scarf around her neck. "I will. You get inside and warm up. I'll take care of Thunder Dragon." Weiss said as Blake got up, brushing her pants and heading inside with a shiver.

Weiss turned her attention back to Thunder Dragon, eyes filled with a cold focus as she zipped up Blake's jacket and tightened the scarf around her face. She summoned a large white glyph. "You have brought the fury of the Schnee family heir upon you." Weiss stated as she lobbed snowball after snowball at the glyph, speeding them up and sending them sailing through the air. Ren weaved his way through the rapidly falling snowballs, Nora being pelted hard and sent to the ground. "Now try and dodge my flurry fury!" Weiss exclaimed as she kept throwing, the volley of snowballs flooding the sky. Ren grabbed a snowball in his hand as he got closer, dodging and grabbing a second snowball.

Ren made his way through the volley, pulling back and throwing a snowball through the glyph hitting Weiss in the stomach. He launched the second one, striking her in the face. Weiss got up, heading back into the school while she undid the scarf. "Weiss! Where are you going? Get to the Tree of Defeat!" Jaune shouted, running out from his hiding point to try and enforce the rules. "Final three!" Ruby exclaimed, charging after Jaune and Ren. Ren turned to face Jaune, pulling a snowball from his bag. Jaune stopped, reaching for his bag and grabbing a snowball as well. Ruby stopped herself at a point between them snowball in each hand, the three remaining Hunters staring down at each other, feeling the snow crumbling in their clutched hands.

Ruby got the first throw, getting Jaune in the chest early on, followed by a quick shot to the side from Ren. "Tactical retreat!" Jaune shouted, running away from the two as they aimed to hit him one more time. Ren and Ruby turned to each other, Ruby grabbing the snowball first and rearing back. The young huntress made the first throw, Ren quickly rolling away and throwing three snowballs, Ruby rapidly dodging them. Ruby kept grabbing and throwing snowballs, missing with each shot while Ren quickly managed to nail Ruby in the head. Ruby quickly went on the evasive as well, moving around each of Ren's throws and circling around the Dragon of Thunder Dragon and catching him with a shot to the back.

Now at 1-1, the two Hunters went back to back-and-forth attempts at getting that second shot and taking the lead. "Combat reengagement!" broke through the flurry as Jaune rushed out, catching both Ruby and Ren with snowballs to face. However, the attack left him wide open for a double hit, taking him out with hits to the chest. Ruby and Ren grabbed their last snowball, staring each other down as they circled each other. The tension in the air grew as thick as the snow, the Hunter's feet making a soft crunch with each step. Ren leapt forward, throwing his snowball only for Ruby to leap sideways. "You've entered my range! Hiiiiiyyaaaahhhh~" she shouted, throwing and getting Ren straight in the face.

"Yeah! Crescent Sun wins! I did it! I am the best snowball warrior!" Ruby yelled excitedly, people looking out from the door windows in confusion and annoyance. Ruby's cheering was cut off when she heard a low chuckle from behind her, turning to see Jaune laughing. "Heh heh heh, so you think you've won? But the snowball fight isn't over…" Jaune said, Ruby blinking and scratching her head. "...What? But Yang eliminated Pyrrha, then Team Penguin took out Yang, then Ren eliminated Blake, Weiss eliminated Nora, Ren eliminated Weiss, me and Ren knocked you out and I just beat Ren! How is the snowball fight still going?" Ruby asked.

Jaune grinned. "Because Yang only hit two shots to Pyrrha…" he said in an undertone, Ruby's eyes widening in shock and fear. "No…" she gasped out as Jaune jumped to his feet. "Now, Pyrrha!" he shouted, Pyrrha leaping out from the Tree of Defeat and throwing a perfect snowball. "Yang! You didn't pay attention to the RUL-" she cried as she turned and saw the snowball hit her dead center in the forehead, the red-hooded huntress falling back with a cry of "NOOOOOOO!" as she hit the snow. Pyrrha ran up to jaune, the two high-fiving in celebration.

"Yeah! We did it, Pyrrha! Masters of Remnant win!" Jaune said ecstatically as Ruby slowly got to her feet. "Pyrrha, how could you? I loved you! I went to all your tournaments! I bought your shoes, your trading cards, your collectibles! I ATE YOUR CEREAL EVERY DAY!" she screamed overdramatically as Yang picked her up. "C'mon, sis. Let's go warm you up before your heart becomes… Weiss cold."

"Good thing Weiss didn't hear that. She'd kill you for that one." Jaune said as the others headed in and took off their coats and gloves, Jaune setting his yellow and green striped hat with a green puffball on a hook. "So, hot chocolate and gift exchange in ten, right?" he asked, the rest of his team, Ruby and Yang nodding in unison. "Cool, see you guys in ten. Seeya Ruby, Yang." he said, waving to them before heading for Team JNPR's dorm.

Within minutes, the two teams had met in the dining hall, basking in the soft glow of the Renewal lights and the warmth of the brick fireplace. Team CFVY walked around the hall, carrying trays loaded with mugs of hot chocolate and bowls of marshmallows in the center. They handed out mugs to students, offering them at 3 Lien for a mug and 1 Lien extra for marshmallows. "Hey Merc. You and Em want some hot cocoa? And I don't mean me." Coco asked with a playful wink. "Sure thing. Two mugs." he said, Coco setting them down on the table and putting out a hand Mercury paid up and turned to face Emerald. "Here's to Renewal, eh?" he said, the two clinking mugs together and taking a careful sip. Mercury grabbed the small wrapped rectangle in front of him, unwrapping it. "Oooh, 25 Lien giftcard to Burgershire! Thanks, Em!" he said. Emerald smiling and taking another sip of cocoa.

"No problem, now let's see what you got me…" she said, unwrapping her present to find a six-pack of neon green cans emblazoned with the words "Emerald Splash" in slanted, whooshing letters. "Eh? Ehhhh? Doooyaliiiikeiiiitttt?" he asked, pointing at her with double finger guns. Emerald growled at her partner, gripping down hard on the can and rearing back to throw it at him. Mercury made a run for it, laughing as the can hit the floor and Emerald grabbed a new can. "These cans are going straight down your throat, Merc!" she shouted, chasing after him and throwing another can.

"...He went out of his way to find this one soda that shared a name with his partner. He had to go to several stores to find that soda." Blake said bluntly, looking up from her book at the chaos. "Well, you have to admire Mercury's tenacity to find it." Weiss said as Coco and Velvet walked up to the table, "Happy Renewal, Team RWBY! Happy Renewal, Team JNPR!" Velvet said with a friendly smile, setting down mugs around each team member, pouring marshmallows into Jaune's mug. "Aww man, how come I don't get marshmallows?" Ruby whined, Coco turning her head to the young huntress.

"Look, you're getting these hot chocolates for free because Renewal's a season of giving. But these marshmallows are expensive and I'm not giving marshmallows for free." Coco said, Ruby pouting in annoyance. "Jaune gets marshmallows…" she muttered, Coco letting her sunglasses fall so she could put her dark brown eyes up against Ruby's blue eyes. "Look, start dating Velvet and then you can get free marshmallows." Coco said, Velvet turning a deep red. "C-Coco! Don't go telling everyone!" she exclaimed, Jaune choking on his hot chocolate. Coco chuckled and put Velvet in a headlock, ruffling the bunny girl's hair with her free hand. "Aww, lighten up, Vel! It's just a joke!" Team CFVY's leader replied, patting Jaune on the shoulder. "You doing alright, loverboy?" she asked as Jaune finally regained his breath.

"Wow… I didn't know you guys were dating." Ruby said, Velvet struggling to get out of Coco's grip. "W-well, it's not really, -Ow, leggo- s-something Jaune and I like to spread around…" Velvet said, Jaune quietly nodding. "Don't know why these two are so hush-hush about the whole thing. They're so adorable together! It almost makes me want to vomit, it's that cute!" Coco exclaimed, letting go of Velvet's head. "Anh… a-anyway, don't let us get in the way of-" Velvet said, trying to change the subject only for Ruby to reel her and Jaune back into the topic. "Wow, my best friend and Blake's best friend are dating! When did it start? Do you go to dinner together? Do you hold hands in private? Tell me stuff, Jaune! I need the stuff!" Ruby exclaimed, Jaune and Velvet both trying to hide their reddening faces.

"Ruby! It's rude to pry in other people's personal lives! ...But really, Velvet. Jaune? I mean, I know I mentioned last year that you didn't have a boyfriend, but you go with Farmboy?" Weiss asked, Jaune pulling himself out of his hood. "Hey, it's not like either of us went out of our way to date someone because we were lonely. Velvet's nice! Also, I saved your life! Can't you not call me Farmboy?" he asked in annoyance, Weiss giggling a bit. "It's just a nickname, Jaune." she said, Pyrrha patting Jaune on the shoulder. "Well, Jaune, I think it's… wonderful that you found someone that makes you happy." Pyrrha said in a comforting tone.

Jaune smiled, feeling the heat in his face drop. "Thanks, Pyrrha. Anyway, let's get to unwrapping our presents, who wants to go fir-" he said, Ruby immediately grabbing the closest present for her. "Me! ME!" she shrieked excitedly, ripping up paper. "This one's from Nora! Ooooooh~" she said, seeing a box of lifting weights. "You gotta work on your arm strength, Ruby! Your whole team's got some bone arms! Not real guns like we have on Team JNPR!" Nora said, flexing her arms and showing off her muscles. "Oh, it's on, Valkyrie!" Yang exclaimed, slamming her hands on her table. She began counter flexing Nora while Coco studied their biceps, Ruby dropping her head onto the table. "Why do you have to be my sister?" she asked, muffled by the table.

Weiss grabbed a gift from the table, taking a moment to look at the tag. "This is from Blake." she said, carefully unwrapping the box and seeing the logo for Style Under Pressure. "No… you didn't…" Weiss said, opening the box to see a pair of amethyst earrings. "Oh wow! Blake, these are… how much did- you didn't have to!" Weiss stammered, alternating at a loss for words and admiring the earrings. "You better wear those, I didn't waste my book budget for you to just gawk at shiny rocks." Blake replied. "Your book budg- Oh! Speaking of!" the heiress said, rooting through the pile and pulling out a box wrapped in purple paper with black cats printed on it.

"...Am I going to hate it as much as I hate the paper?" Blake asked, adjusting her beret slightly. Weiss shook her head as Blake unwrapped her gift, finding a card for Tukson's Book Trade. "Huh… Tukson's, eh? I didn't see you go there when we did gift shopping." Blake said, Weiss smiling and giving another her familiar false laugh. "Ooooohohohohoho~ I went there myself while you were shopping for Ruby's gift. I'll admit, I've had… difficulties with Faunus in the past," she said, the table going somewhat quiet. "But Tukson and I got along quite nicely. I went a bit over the planned amount, but I had been saving on other gifts, so I figured 75 Lien wouldn't be too bad." she said, Blake smiling and pocketing the card.

"My turn, then!" Yang shouted, pulling away from her flex-off with Nora and reaching for a nearby gift only to get a rectangular box shoved into her hands by Coco. "Happy Renewal, boxing buddy!" she exclaimed, pushing up her sunglasses. Yang tore away the package in one swoop, tossing aside the cover of the box to find a black t-shirt with a design of Yang throwing a burning uppercut in the center, black shorts with yellow lining, pair of yellow grappling gloves and a black mouthguard. "Oh, sweet! New boxing gear! Thanks Coco!" Yang said, putting on the gloves. "Yeah, shame Boxing Club's going on hiatus for awhile, what with missions and with organizing the Spring Maiden Dance." Coco explained.

"Huh? Spring Maiden Dance?" Ruby asked, pulling her head up. Velvet nodded. "The Spring Maiden Festival is an event on the off years of the Vytal Festival where students from the other three academies visit a Kingdom in the spirit of international unity. The host Kingdom's academy holds a ball, the Spring Maiden Dance. Vale is going to be hosting and Coco volunteered our team to put the Dance together." she explained.

"Isn't spring a few months off? How long does it take to prepare a dance?" Ruby asked, Weiss shrugging. "You'd be surprised, Ruby. One of my mother's friends spent a year and a half preparing their daughter's wedding. It was quite the opulent affair, with a cake that was taller than you… which, admittedly isn't difficult." Weiss said with a smirk, Ruby growling at her as Jaune grabbed two presents. "Wow, Jaune. Feeling a bit greedy tonight?" Nora asked, Jaune shaking his head. "One's for me and the other's for Velvet. Couple's trade?" he asked, handing Velvet her gift. The rabbit Faunus nodded, blushing slightly. "R-right. Couple's trade." she said with a smile, the two opening their gifts at the same time.

On the surface, both were black hooded jackets, but once unfolded, the difference became obvious. Jaune's had the design of a smiling rabbit face on the chest while Velvet's had what looked to be holes the hood. "...Velvet, you put a bunny on Jaune's hoodie." Blake said matter-of-factly. "Ah… w-well, I'm going to be away on missions a lot, so I thought Jaune would want something to keep me in his thoughts while I was away." Velvet said, Coco grabbing from behind in a big hug. "Aww, that's so _cute_. Here comes the huggage!" she said, Velvet struggling to escape. "Coco! Stop it! Y-you're embarrassing me!" she squealed, turning red as she tried to wrench her waist free from Coco's grip. "I'm the Hugginator, and I'm assigned to take you out!" Coco replied as Velvet finally slipped out.

"Uh… Jaune… I think Velvet's hood has holes in it…." Ruby pointed out, Velvet chuckling and putting it on. As she flipped on the hood, her ears went through the holes, sticking out comfortably. "Ah! It fits perfectly! Thank you, Jaune!" Velvet said, quickly hugging the blond Huntsman in joy. "Heh, took me and Ren a while to make them fit, but it was worth it." he said, returning the hug gingerly before the two quickly separated, Velvet pulling her hood down to cover her face. "A-anyway, Nora, how about you have a go…" Jaune said, clearing his throat slightly. Nora grinned and grabbed a gift, tearing off the paper.

"This one's Ren and it's… a hat… you got me a hat." Nora said, looking at a knit winter hat in her hand. "Mhm. I've been taking up knitting. It's been a very calming hobby and I wanted to share the fruit of my labor." Ren said with a serene look on his face as he unwrapped his gift from Nora. "Y'know, I've been actually needing a hat." She said, putting it on her head to reveal that the hat was shaped like a deer with little wooly antlers. She casually batted at the two fake antlers with a smile. Ren found inside the wrapping was a box of toffee from a local Vale sweetshop. Ren smiled and opened the box, unwrapping a piece and taking a bite. "Thanks Nora, Happy Renewal." he said, Pyrrha looking at her presents and thinking on which one to choose.

She grabbed the box from Jaune, opening it to find a camera inside. "A camera?" she asked, Jaune nodding. "Yeah, you talked about how you wanted a hobby outside of fighting and I thought photography would be something you'd like. Velvet helped me pick out the camera." Jaune said, Pyrrha looking at the camera and smiling. "Wow… thank you, Jaune. I'll give it a try." she said, opening the box and pulling out the camera. "It should have some rechargeable batteries in the box, so maybe we can start your collection with a Renewal photo." Velvet suggested. "Great idea. Velvet, think you can help with setting up a timer and stand?" Pyrrha asked, getting up from the table to get a good shot of the group and Velvet following after.

The two teams left the table, finishing their hot chocolates and heading to a large couch set up on the wall, Velvet and Pyrrha setting up the camera and stand. Ruby and Jaune sat next to each other in the middle of the couch, their teammates moving into place across the table to their left and right, Yang and Ren taking the ends of the couch with Nora and Ren leaving a space open for Pyrrha. Once the camera was set, Pyrrha took her place on the couch. "5… 4… 3… 2…" Velvet slowly counted down when Coco dove onto the couch, screaming "Banzai!" as she crashed onto them. "Coco! Get out of the shot! Ah! This is a terrible first photo!" Velvet shouted over the screams of the two teams as Coco landed on them, many scrambling off the couch as the camera flash and the first photo was taken.

"I hate Renewal…" Jaune muttered among the pile of body.


	3. Phase 2

Mercury and Emerald headed for their dorm, Emerald looking at the beaten cans of Emerald Splash in annoyance. "Merc, this better be some good soda…" she said, Mercury chuckling. "It's kiwi-lime. It can't be that bad." he said, opening the door to see that their teammates hadn't come back from their Renewal festivities. The dorm window was slightly open, a cold wind shooting out into the hall. "Damn teammates, leaving the window open..." Mercury grumbled, heading for his bed. "How's your arm?" he asked, Emerald gently rubbing it as she stepped into the darkened dorm room. "Stings a bit, but I think the bleedi-" she said as she turned on the room light, pausing slightly as she saw that something had found its way onto her bed.

It was a small white cat covered in chocolate colored splotches with ice blue eyes sitting on the bed, swinging its tail playfully. "The hell? Where did this cat come from?" Emerald asked, feeling the breeze from the open window. She turned and saw the window, which was open just enough for a cat to slide through. "You think someone let the cat in to mess with us?" Mercury asked, Emerald shrugging as the cat circled around its tail for a bit before sitting back down on its hindlegs. "Well, however it got it. It's getting out now! Go on, cat! Get out! Shoo! Shoo!" Emerald ordered the cat, only to get a soft, low purr in response. "No! I said out, cat! This isn't your house! Get off my bad! Get-" Emerald said, advancing on the cat when Mercury put a hand on her shoulder and pointed to the cat's neck, where a small pink light glistened from under the chin.

"It's got a collar." he said, the two walking over and bending down to read it. Written in rough carvings was the word "Chloe" the Hunters recoiling from the cat quickly. The cat was soon bathed in a white light, turning into a shapeless orb of light that rapidly took shape. The light burst away and what remained where the cat was replaced by a short woman with chocolate brown eyes and matching hair with pink streaks sporting a cat-like smile on her face. She was dressed in a pink jacket, brown pants and white high-heeled boots with one leg crossed over the other, hand on her knee. "Oh good, it's Torchwick's weird mime. What do you want, Chloe?" Emerald asked, visibly annoyed. Chloe held her grin and reached into her pocket, pulling out a folded piece of paper.

Emerald unfolded the paper, seeing a few sentences written in cursive. "Roman knows what you did and wants a word with you. I'm here to escort you to his manor. - Chloe. =3" Emerald looked up at Chloe as she passed the note to her partner, Chloe grinning at them before changing back into a cat and climbing off to the window and jumping out. "We seriously gonna follow her?" Emerald asked. Mercury rolled his eyes. "Why are you acting like he's gonna take us out back and shoot us? If we die, we're registered to the school so Torchwick would be found immediately unless he skipped town, we'll be fine." he said, Emerald returning the eyeroll. "I was more thinking how we're following a cat. Besides, I'm not worried about Torchwick. Cinder's our insurance policy, he couldn't if he tried.. Let's just humor the jackass and then we can go to sleep." Emerald said, Mercury shrugging and jumping down first, landing perfectly on his feet, bending his knees slightly before standing upright.

"Alright! Now you!" he said, Emerald taking a careful step out of the window and jumping, Mercury quickly catching her as landed, both hitting a mound of snow. The two got up, following after the cat Chloe. The cat snuck her way under the gate, shaking off the snow and turning to her escorts. Emerald grabbed her sickle from her side, throwing it over the fence and hitting a tree. The two climbed the chain, getting over the fence and following Chloe into the cold, white night. The walk took them from Beacon's grounds to Vale's Market Quarter, heading down the street until Chloe came to a stop, Emerald and Mercury paling at the sight of a building resembling a log cabin with a neon sign reading "GOLDEN APPLE: Bar & Grill" with a bite-marked golden apple. "Oh crap… no, no. Cinder's out of town. She's got business in… I dunno, Vacuo or something. She's not... " Emerald said, shaking her head as Chloe took on her human form again.

Chloe opened the door, leading them into the bar where Torchwick was sat at a table in the center of the, cutting into his salmon fillet with a smug smile on his face. "Happy Renewal, brats. Pull up a chair, I'll get you some cider and we'll have a little chat." he said jovially, tipping a glass of cider to them. Chloe headed off towards the kitchen, the sound of clinking glasses echoing through the empty bar. "What are you playing at, Torchwick? We're not in the mood for games." Emerald said defensively, Torchwick chuckling and taking a sip of cider. "Dear Emerald, is it too much to ask the two of you to give a lonely man like me a little company?" he asked, turning to Chloe as she came back with a tray with two glasses of cider. "No offense, Chloe. But you're not much of one for conversation, ya know?" Roman said with a grin, Chloe smiling back and setting down the glasses.

"Come on, put your feet up. Grab a menu. Better to be here than out in the cold, right?" Torchwick offered again, the warmth of the room making his offer feel more tempting by the second. The two slowly walked up to the table, sitting down and taking the menu. "Order whatever you want. It's on me." he said with a wink, Mercury looking askew at the head of the Red Lantern Family and taking a careful sip of cider. "It's not poisoned, if that's what you're thinking. You're both a pain in my ass, sure, but you're good kids. You're clearly talented and you gotta get by. If Cinder hadn't got to you first, you two would've been great recruits for the Red Lantern Family." Torchwick said, the young criminals blinking in surprise at Torchwick's praise. "Uh… thanks, Torchwick." Emerald said, putting her eyes back to the menu.

"Think nothing of it. Try the ribs. People like the ribs." he said, taking another bite of fillet. The two shrugged and ordered a plate of ribs, Chloe quickly writing down their order on a pad of paper and heading for the kitchen. Within minutes, Chloe had a plate of ribs and cider refills for the table, the three eating and chatting casually. Chloe sat down, drinking from the cider bottle as Roman told the two stories of heists gone by. "-and since I had about twenty armed security guards on me, I knew an easy exit was out of the question. I broke one's finger just as he was going to pull the trigger, I pretended to surrender, then I shot out the lights before anyone else could draw a bead on me. And then it went to chaos and I gotta say, it is not easy to get around twenty shots going off at once, but it helps when they hit other guards while trying to shoot me. Long story short, I made my way out and got away with a nice copy of blueprints for a new Dust pistol." he said, the two drawn into the story.

"But enough about me, perhaps you guys would tell me a story." Torchwick said, taking another long sip of cider. "Sure thing, Torchwick. What do you wanna know about?" he said, Torchwick circling his thumb around the cider glass. "Hm… how about what you two were doing at Tukson's tonight." he said, Emerald nearly choking on her ribs as her eyes went wide. "Should've known this fun wouldn't last," Mercury said, patting Emerald lightly on the back. "We were doing your job for you. We heard Cinder give the job to put him down and you kept dragging your feet on it. Thanks to us, we took care of that before Cinder gets back." Mercury said, Roman tapping his finger on his cane. "Look, you little punks, let's make something clear. I had the Tukson situation under control and I don't need two street rats doing my work for me." Torchwick said, Emerald finding her voice.

"Oh yeah? So why was on he getting a ship to Vacuo? Why didn't you kill him when you were told? Why not have your little pink psycho do the job? Why-" Emerald said before being left with her jaw wide open as the familiar click of heels hit the wood floor. Out from the kitchen stepped their boss, Cinder, in her usual red suit dress and black heels, amber eyes glowing and illuminating the room slightly as she glared at her subordinates. "Why did you two feel the need to take it upon yourself to do Roman's work? Why did you disobey my _specific_ instructions to keep low and focus on surveillance within Beacon? Why did you think I wouldn't have Roman make sure you stayed the course?" Cinder asked as she stepped to the table, Mercury and Emerald turning their eyes away from her. "...Answer me!" she snapped, startling the two.

"W-well, Cinder… we had thought that since Torchwick wasn't doing his job and y-y-you said you didn't like insubordination, so we wanted to make sure Tukson and Torchwick got the message." Emerald stammered out as Chloe poured Cinder a glass of cider, the glow in their boss' eyes turning brighter. "So… to prove a point about insubordination, you chose to be insubordinate yourselves, kill a man on one of the busiest nights of the year and set an entire building on fire…" Cinder responded, turning to Mercury and nodding to him. "We sent a message!" he said in response to the silent order to speak. "You drew attention. The police have been on edge for a good few months with the recent robberies, the attacks by the Black Fang and further gang activity with the Red Lantern Family." she began, finger circling the rim of her glass of cider. "All of which has resulted in increased Grimm activity outside Vale's walls, meaning tighter security measures. My recent sabbatical to Mistral wasn't simply for a meeting with the executives of White Mouse Shipping. I was keeping a low profile and expected the both of you to do the same." she said coldly, taking a sip of cider before turning to Roman, who was enjoying the chewing out too much for her liking.

"And you... why wasn't the matter with Tukson settled earlier? You would think after your failure to secure Ironwood's apprentice that you would want to make it up to me by dealing with a deserter." Cinder said, Torchwick's smile fading. "Well, let's see... What have I been up to? Well, there's keeping up relations with the Black Fang, delivering orders to the Family, buying Chloe some new clothes," he began listing off, turning and winking to his obedient apprentice. "She's grown about two inches, don't ya know? Then there's stealing enough Dust to arm a small nation! No big deal, oh yeah, and buying your Renewal present." he said with a smirk, Chloe grabbing his briefcase from the floor and setting it down on the table. Torchwick unlocked the case and flipped it open, revealing a small portable thumb drive. "Just a little something in case you need to backup some files." Roman said, looking to Mercury and Emerald and putting a cigar in his mouth. "Sorry I forgot to get the brats anything. Renewal shopping is always a nightmare." he said, pulling out his lighter and flipping it open.

As he went to light his cigar, Emerald immediately snatched the lighter from his hand, sticking out her tongue. "I think this will be a good enough gift. Could've used this earlier when we-" Emerald began before her wounded right arm was immediately grabbed. "Anh! Wh-what the?" she said, wincing as she turned to see Chloe looking at her, eyes bulging and her face twisted into a sneer, lips barely apart to show her teeth. Chloe applied more pressure onto Emerald's arm, the blonde thief dropping the lighter onto the table. Chloe let go of Emerald's arm as Emerald growled, rubbing the soreness out of her arm. "Yeah, I almost forgot," Torchwick said, laughing it off. "Don't do that." he said with a serious tone, grabbing his lighter and lighting his cigar up. Emerald turned and looked at Chloe, still staring at her with the same murderous expression before Torchwick began ruffling her hair.

Without missing a beat, Chloe's eyes shut and her snarl turned into a cheerful smile, Emerald letting out panicked gasps. "Wh-what… what are you?" she asked shakily, Chloe simply returning to Torchwick's side. "She's not bad once she learns to like you." He joked, patting her once on the head as she gave a closed eyed smile. "So, what's the plan going forward?" Torchwick asked, Cinder taking another sip before answering. "...We'll be moving on to Phase 2 within the next few months." she said, pulling out a map of Remnant, marked at various points. "Roman, you and two Black Fang generals will be taking a cadre of soldiers out into the southeast region of Vale, where operations will take place. Mountain Glenn." she said, pointing to the southeast region and then pointing to Atlas. "Our intel has made us aware that General Ironwood will be traveling to Vale in the coming time to unveil new tech. This will be your chance at redeeming yourself, Roman. Before you begin movement for the southeast, you will make one more attempt to bring me his apprentice. Alive, if possible." Cinder said, eyes glowing faintly. Torchwick nodded and took a puff. "I'll get the Family working on it. Shouldn't be too hard if we can keep the General distracted." he said in response.

"Actually, the Red Lantern Family have another job in Atlas," she said and pulled out a set of schematics, unveiling them. The schematics showed designs for a new machine, resembling a military tank with legs. "This is the prototype for the newest weapon from Atlas Arms. The Atlesian Paladin-290. While you are going to capture Penny Polendina, the Family will be pulling off their biggest job and will be acquiring models and bringing them to the southeast. Knowing the General and the brandishing of his… Ego. He'll bring a model, just to show it off like the fool he is." she said with a smirk.

"So, what's our job for this plan?" Emerald asked anxiously, eyes lit up at the size of Phase 2's scale. "You and Mercury will **lay low**." Cinder said, eyes glowing and fire forming in the palm of her hand. Mercury leapt up from his seat and backing away, eyes widened and breath going in rapid gasps. "W-we killed Tukson, we've gotta get more than j-j-just sitting through Port's boring speeches at Beacon, r-right?" Emerald asked, watching the fire grow slightly and reaching for Mercury's hand. Cinder glared at her minions and balled her hand into a fist around the fire, snuffing it out with a sigh. "As much as I am loath to reward recklessness, you are correct that that you successfully kill Tukson, which was both not your job to take on and beyond my expectations of your abilities." she said, Mercury and Emerald slowly calming down and smiling. "So, I will be giving you a specific job within Beacon. Your efforts over the past year has given me a lot of information regarding Beacon's future crop, probably some of Ozpin's picks for future Hunters." she said, setting down a pair of folders onto the table. "And with Golden Apple bringing in students that are willing to take up jobs from 'Eris', we have just as much an opening to sway potential Hunters into our fold. What I want you two do is to keep a close eye on these two teams. Team RWBY and Team JNPR." Cinder said, opening the folders to show written information on both teams.

"Team JNPR is certainly an impressive little group. Five-time Mistral Regional champion Pyrrha Nikos, martial arts expert Ren Lie, Iron Woman Powerlifting champion Nora Valkyrie and the one I'm most fascinated in, Jaune Arc. A lineage of warriors dating back to Claire Delaney and with a bright future ahead of him. If we can bring him to our side, he'd make for a useful Knight in my set. If not, we can see about eliminating him like the others." she said, folding Team JNPR's folder. "And as for Team RWBY… well, there's more personal stake with them." Cinder continued, the rest of the group looking at team RWBY's file.

"There's Yang Xiao-Long, who destroyed the Bear's Den and got Arthur Julian sent to jail." Cinder began, Torchwick chuckling a bit. "Yeah, but we came out of that for the better. Julian was getting a little too big for his own good and had ideas of putting me out. Losing his bar actually knocked him down and halted a potential gang war. Hell, we owe her a thank you note more than anything." he said, taking another puff. Chloe grinned wickedly as she looked over at Yang's photograph, unsheathing a sword from her umbrella and stabbing through it, startling Emerald and Mercury slightly as she lifted the sword up, holding the photo on the blade. "Hah! That's the spirit, Chloe! I guess we know who's taking care of her!" Roman said, laughing a bit more, Cinder smiling sweetly at the silent psycho.

"Indeed. Next is Blake Belladonna. Adam has made it clear that Blake is the Black Fang's business. Much like myself, Adam is not one to tolerate defectors and has expressed desire to see revenge on our little Faunus friend. Weiss Schnee is a shared target. The Black Fang have engaged in war against the Schnee family for some time and I'm sure that there is no love between Schnee Dust and the Red Lantern Family, though they've made good money for White Mouse. If she crosses our paths any time soon, try to take her alive and if not… well, it's one less adversary." Cinder said, Chloe stabbing through Blake and Weiss' pictures.

"And finally, Ruby Rose. The thorn in our side. She's weak, but she's also persistent and very lucky. The girl has already foiled our plans before and will most likely do so again if given the chance. And I'm sure none of us are willing to give her that chance… right Roman?" Cinder said, eyes on the leader of the Red Lantern family, who simply grunted and put his cigar out on Ruby's photo. Cinder chuckled and turned to face Mercury and Emerald. "You two are going to study both teams, figure out their full strengths and weaknesses. Report back to me with your findings once a week. And remember not to step a toe out of line again. Do I make myself clear?" she asked, the quickly bowing to avoid her radiant eyes. "Yes, Cinder!" they said in unison. "Good, you are both dismissed… oh, and one more thing." she said as they turned to leave, both freezing in place. "Happy Renewal." she said softly, the two sighing in relief and walking out. Roman got up from his seat, stretching a bit. "Welp, I think we'd better get going too. Been a long day and I am beat. Happy Renewal, Cinder. It's been lovely to see you again." Torchwick said, taking her hand and kissing it gently to avoid burning himself on the heat coming from her fingers. "Happy Renewal Roman. And you as well, Ms. Quinn." Cinder said as Roman grabbed his cane and put on his hand.

Chloe turned to join her boss, stopping and looking down at the burnt picture of Ruby, smiling down at it before stabbing it with her sword, walking off with all four pictures embedded in her blade.


	4. Embers

The winter sun shone low in the winter sky, a travel ship passing it as it crossed the calm ocean waters. Sun Wukong breathed in the salty smell of seawater as he sat on the portside rail, long blonde tail wrapped around the beam to hold him in place. "Ahhh... nice and fresh, eh Nep?" he said, turning to a young man in a red jacket and black dress pants with his head buried in a trash can. He was holding a chocolate brown flat cap onto his head with a free hand, letting out a pained groan. "You okay, Neptune? You sick?" Sun asked, shifting closer to the trashcan to hear a violent retching echo from the trashcan. "Yep, sick." he said, rubbing his traveling companion's back.

"No one told me the whole ocean was going to smell like fish." he groaned, letting out another retch. "What did you expect? We're out in open water!" Sun exclaimed. Neptune pulling his head up and looking at Sun with dark blue eyes. "Well, I was expecting us to take a plane! Why are we out at sea again?" he asked. "Because air travel at this time is a nightmare. Snowing like crazy over in Vale. Besides, being cramped in a metal tube in the sky just ain't my style." Sun explained, shifting himself around so his feet touched the deck. "I mean, you got an open sea all around, bright sun on the clear blue sky, a cool breeze on your abs, smokin' hot crew girls, good food. What's not to love?" he asked, giving a playful wink to a passing waitress, who smiled and gave a wave to Sun before walking off.

"So get out of that bucket, ya weenie, and have a little fun." Sun said, helping Neptune who to his feet. Neptune put on a confident smile and walked over to another waitress, leaning himself a wall. "Hey there, hot stuff…" he started, the tanned woman looking at him with her head tilted slightly, long brown hair falling to one side. "Hello, sir. How are you enjoying your trip?" she asked, Neptune tipping his flat cap slightly upward. "Yeah, but I'd like it more if-" Neptune began before suddenly feeling a churning in his stomach. He immediately rushed back to the trash barrel and began to let out another violent heave of sick. The waitress rolled her eyes and walked off as Neptune continued to puke. "Back to the bucket!." Sun said, pushing Neptune's head further into the trash can.

The ship soon docked, the Haven students stepping off and walking through the Market Quarter, Sun throwing down Lien for an apple strudel as they made their way down the street. "What? Nothing for me?" Neptune asked, annoyed as Sun continued to stuff his face. "Hey! You ate a lot more on the boat! I'm not made of money, and I'm not stealing any for you." the Faunus shouted back. "And then I puked it up! I need food, Sun!" Neptune groused. "Ahh, there'll be food at Beacon. Just chill out. Eh? How about that, chill out?" the Faunus Hunter said, nudging Neptune in the side. "Dude, that was a great pun." Neptune said, chuckling a bit. "...Man, it's not as fun when you enjoy the pun." Sun grumbled, taking another bite of strudel.

The two soon arrived at the gate, swiping their ID cards through the scanner. "Greetings from Haven, -Sun- and -Neptune-" chirped the speaker system as the gate swung open. "So, who are we visiting again?" Neptune asked as they walked up the walkway toward the main building. "Blake. She's cool. A bit on the quiet side, but she's got this sweet katana and man does she know how to use it. And she's pretty, but if I'm being honest, she's got nothing on her partner." Sun said with a gleam in his eye. Neptune opened his mouth, only to be interrupted by a loud gurgling from his stomach. "Well, let's hope Blake's in the cafeteria. I'm starving." he said with a weak chuckle, the two visiting students grabbing school maps from entrance door and looking for the cafeteria. They found it easily and ordered their lunch, Sun getting a burger while Neptune ordered the scalloped potatoes. The two took their seat, Sun sniffing at the air while Neptune ate his lunch.

"Mmmm! These potatoes are delicious! Wow!" Neptune said, taking another excited bite of potatoes. Sun calmly sighed to himself as he poked his burger with a plastic fork. "Why does everything make you so excited?" Sun wondered aloud, Neptune speaking with a mouthful of potatoes. "C'mon, Sun! We're alive, we're Huntsmen, we're eating good food and we didn't have to pay for it. Life's good, live a little!" he said, offering his monkey friend a forkful of potato. "Look man, I get living a carefree life. I'm all about that, but you gotta mellow out." Sun said, taken somewhat aback by Neptune's sudden burst of energy. Neptune simply smiled and took another bite, Sun soon catching a familiar scent. "She's here." he said, turning his head to look around the cafeteria. "She is? Where? Where!" Neptune said, jumping up from the table and standing behind Sun, darting his eyes around the cafeteria. "Hm… over there! Oh cool, she's with her team! You'll get to meet them too!" Sun exclaimed, grabbing his burger and taking a big bite before jumping over the table and running over to Blake's table, Neptune trailing behind him.

Team RWBY were joined at their table by Team JNPR as the eight students were engaged in an intense battle of with, each member of Team RWBY looking over a map of Remnant covered in plastic models of knights and Grimm with a hand of playing cards to scan over. Over their shoulders was a member of Team JNPR; Jaune stood over Ruby, Pyrrha seconded Weiss, Ren aided Blake and Nora was in Yang's corner. "Hrm… You're gonna need more Air units if you're going to get past Yang's mountain fortress, if you don't fly, movement is reduced by 3 per turn." Jaune suggested, Ruby rubbing her chin."Yeah, but the air units have less health, I'll just… slowly march past the mountains!" she countered, Jaune shaking his head. "You're going to get bombarded with cannon fire if you try mountain marching. There's too much risk in mountain marching for heavy losses." Jaune replied, pointing out Yang's mounted cannons on the map.

"You're about to get an invitation to the gun show!" Yang said, slamming a card down onto the table enough to make the pieces bounce. "R-r-r-r-railgun, ready to fire!" She proclaimed, Ruby's eyes going wide. "We'll coat the mountainside in your soldier's blood!" Nora said with a bloodthirsty gaze, Weiss slowly hopping her chair away from Yang and Nora. "I don't know how you live with her…" she muttered, turning to Pyrrha who had given her advice to turn troops away from the southern Atlesian base. "If Vale's going to be suffering heavy losses, our best bet would be to turn our attention toward invading Vacuo and claiming their territory before Yang and Nora do." she said, Weiss nodding and grabbing the miniature castle. "...Weiss, you can't attack people with a castle." Blake said through her book, Weiss scowling slightly and setting her base back down. "I knew that." she shot back as Pyrrha helped her move her fleet.

Ren stood over Blake's shoulder, arms crossed as his chest and surveying the field. "Hm… if the Atlesian military intends on bringing war to us, our best efforts will come from non-aggressive tactics. Using traps and area effect cards like Sandstorm will buffer them without heavy losses to our numbers. Once those options are expended, we'll head into full retreat and allow a loss of rations to starve out their soldiers." Ren commented as he looked over the board. "It'd work if these weren't Atlesian mechs, they can't get hungry." Blake responded. "They still have a fuel marker that acts in place of food. It's a lot of desert, they wouldn't survive marching such a long way. Once they fall, we send scavengers out to raid them for scraps." he commented, Blake shrugging her shoulders.

"...Why are all of my friends dorks?" Sun asked, watching as Ruby and Yang were engaged in an intense staredown while Jaune tried to covertly grab a pair of air troopers only for Ruby to slap his hand away, her gaze never shifting from her older sister. Blake's eyes shot up from her book and she turned to see Sun, who grinned and gave his customary "Yo" as she quickly marked and shut her book. "Sun! Why are you here?" she said, everyone looking up to see the monkey tailed Faunus, who rolled his eyes. "Haven't seen each other in months and the first thing she asks is why I'm here… me and my buddy Neptune are visiting for a couple of months. Guy can't spend his whole life cramped up in a school." Sun said, Jaune glaring furiously at Sun. "...Yo, is the blonde dude alright?" Sun asked, pointing his thumb at the angry blonde.

"...Put a shirt on!" Jaune shouted, Ruby letting out a startled yelp and jumping out of her chair, Blake chuckling. "Don't mind Jaune, he tends to get upset when people remind him that he's ab deficient." she explained, Jaune grumbling and turning back to the game. "...Did you seriously walk around in the snow without a shirt on?" Weiss asked, Sun winking and pulling back his open shirt to expose more of his chest. "When you look this good? Everywhere I go is summer." Sun said, a line that made Jaune want to gag. "So yeah, since I didn't really get your names last time, I thought I'd get to know you guys a little better. I'm Sun Wukong, Monkey King of Thieves and new student of Haven Academy!" he said, shaking his hand with everyone at the table.

"Oooh! I've read about Haven! What's it like? Why go there and not Vale or Shade? How hard is it?" Ruby asked curiously, the monkey-tailed Hunter grinning. "Why got there? Well, the weather's nice in Mistral, the training grounds are open 24/7 and the ladies are _fine_... but they got nothing on the girls in Vale." he said, giving a playful wink to Yang, who smiled back at him. "Looks like the monkey's going for the low hanging fruit." she said, Ruby groaning before looking at the board fiercely. "I'm going to blow up all of Mistral entirely because of that!" she exclaimed, desperate to ignore her sister flirting at the lunch table.

"Don't forget about the cool outfits we get, Sun. It's my favorite part." Neptune said, standing between Sun and Yang and showing off his jacket, straightening the tie underneath. "Oh yeah. This is my new buddy, Neptune." Sun said, putting a hand on Neptune's shoulder. "Neptune Vasilias." Neptune said, tipping off his flatcap and giving a bow of his head to the other students. The rest of the gathered Hunters stared at his hair, a messy light-blue hair shaved on the sides and in the back. The room went silent, broken by Weiss making the first comment. "...Your hair's blue." she said. "Yeah,cool huh? Dyed and cut it myself." he said proudly. "It's… interesting…." she said, Neptune flashing a winning smile as Sun grabbed his hat and threw it back on his head.

"Y'know, maybe we should catch up somewhere else, Sun." Blake suggested as Ren loomed over her head to move her units further into Vacuo's desert. "Yeah, it's a bit crowded in here. Maybe we could swing by that bookstore we slept out in." Sun said. "You haven't used up that gift card yet, so we can definitely get good use of it here." Weiss said, getting up from her seat. Blake followed suit, Ruby turning on them both. "Hey, wait a minute! We're in the middle of war! You can't walk off! The armies of Atlas and Vacuo need their leaders!" the leader of team RWBY shouted, flailing her arms wildly. "We're just going to be gone for a few minutes. This game will probably still be going when we get back. Ren and Pyrrha can take over for us." Blake said, Ruby pouting but nodding. "Well… alright. You guys have fun and say hi to Tukson for me… Jaune! No air troops!" Ruby barked as she turned back to the table. Weiss and Blake chuckled a bit as they headed out of the cafeteria.

After a quick couple of swipes through the security gate, the quartet were off for Tukson's Book Trade, Blake and Sun leading the way. The afternoon sun melted the freshly plowed snow, water dripping into the storm drains as they passed while Blake talked about her friends at Beacon. "So, you're in a team now, huh? What are they like?" Sun asked. "Well, first is our team leader, Ruby Rose. She's kind of like a puppy. Small, easily excited, loud and a bit tiring, but she's also a good friend. Always finds a way to cheer me up when I'm feeling down, plus she's a great reading buddy. And then there's her sister my partner, Yang. And Ruby might be tiring, Yang is…" Blake said, rubbing her chin as she considered the best word to describe Yang. "she's like a one-girl riot. A wave of loud destruction that disrupts all peace. I mean, we're actually gelling as partners during training, but I can't be in the same room as her of my own volition." Blake explained, Sun nodding and looking up to the sky with a devious grin on his face. Blake sighed, pulled a hardcover book from her bag and lightly smacked him upside the head with it.

"Ow! What was that for?!" Sun shouted as he rubbed the back of his head. "I know you're thinking dirty thoughts about Yang. Stop that. Perv Time is not happening." Blake said bluntly. "Look, I can't help it if your partner is like, volcano levels of hotness. I'm a sucker for a pretty face and- and she saved my life when we were fighting that gun-wielding lunatic, so she's compassionate and that's cool!" Sun quickly added as Blake reached back into her bookbag. "Yeah, Ruby's team leader but Yang's the glue that really holds things together. Heh, it's funny, really. She's probably the least responsible member of the team and yet she's also the big sister of the team. You got anyone like that?" Blake asked.

"Probably Sage. Kinda tall dude, dark skin, brown hair and amber eyes. He's not as wild as Yang and he doesn't have nearly as nice abs as I do. But he's the reason I was able to make it a week in Haven." Sun explained. "Ah, difficult school, huh?" Blake asked. "Oh no, the school part's easy. It's just all the rules they throw at ya. Don't do this, don't do that, can't do this, can't bring that. I tell ya, I dunno how people can live with so many rules." Sun complained. "But yeah, Sage has gotten me and Scarlet out of a lot of trouble." he said.

"And Scarlet? What's he like?" Blake asked, Sun laughing a bit before answering. "He's… kind of a spaz."he said, scratching the side of his head slightly as he gathered his thoughts. "He's clumsy, he's overly friendly with people, he's easily startled and he thinks he's a pirate." Sun explained, Blake stopping slightly and giving off a wide-eyed look of confusion. "...A pirate?" she asked, Sun throwing up his arms. "Yeah, I don't get it either! He said his family comes from a long line of pirates, but I've never even seen a pirate! Have you ever seen a pirate? Who's pirating these days! WE HAVE SHIPS THAT FLY AND SOMEONE'S GONNA TRY AND PLUNDER THEM?!" he said, suddenly shouting in exasperation. "...You've been holding this in a while, haven't you? Blake asked. "It's literally my first thought when I see him every morning. He'll fly up the to top of the flagpole to shout nonsense at everyone to wake them up. He cuts everything with his cutlass. He somehow set up a rope swing without anyone noticing and swung his way across the cafeteria. I just, I don't… why is he a pirate?!" Sun asked in exasperation, Blake giving him a friendly pat on the back.

Behind them, Neptune was trying to work his magic on Weiss. "So, I never really caught your name… Snow Angel." he began, Weiss shutting her eyes so she could roll them in a clandestine manner. "I'm Weiss. Weiss Schnee." she said when she opened her eyes. "Whoa, did you say Schnee? Like, Schnee Dust Schnee?" Neptune asked, Weiss nodding. "Yeah, the very same." She confirmed, Neptune his head. "My dad and your dad spent a lot of time talking, he owns The Poseidon Shipwright! He even helped Jacques build the Hyperion, y'know, that really big ship that transports shipping ships?" Neptune said, Weiss rubbing her chin. "Hm… Poseidon… Poseidon… y'know, I think I have met your father before when I was little. I think it was during a banquet. Zander Vasilias, right?" she asked, Neptune nodding. "Yes, now I remember, dyed his hair black to make himself look younger than he was." the heiress said, Neptune laughing. "Yeah, and he'd keep whatever blonde he still has, so he's just got little specks of blonde in there." he said,Weiss letting out her signature laugh.

"Oh Hohohohoho~ yes, I remember that. I also remember he'd always bring his little blonde-haired kid alo- oh! Oh wow, you're that Neptune! The kid who went in a superhero costume!" Weiss said, laughing harder. "What? I was Dragonface! I looked so cool!" Neptune shouted, Weiss holding her sides in laughter. "You looked… ahahahaha… you looked like you were wearing a blanket! Oh, daddy was furious, it was great!" she said, wiping a tear from the corner of her eye. "Your sister liked the costume…" Neptune grumbled, Weiss snickering to try and hold in her laughter. "Yeah, she thought it was hilarious!" the heiress said, laughing as she bumped into Blake. "Ah! Sorry, Blake. I was too… busy… laughing…" Weiss began as she saw what had brought her friend to a halt.

Tukson's Book Trade was taped off, police looking over the smoldering rubble from last night's fire. Shelves were shattered from the burst of the Dust Crystal and books were reduced to ash. "No… Tukson... Tukson!" Blake called out, running toward the tape only for Weiss and Sun to grab her and hold her back, Weiss grabbing her waist while Sun held her arms.. "Blake, stop! We're not allowed behind a police line!" Weiss cried, trying to pull Blake away. "I'm a Huntress! I can help! Let go!" she shouted, an officer turning and walking over to them. "Hey, you kids! Stay behind the line!" The officer said, Blake turning to him. "Officer, we're with Beacon and Haven Academy! What happened here?" Blake said frantically, still struggling against Sun and Weiss, the cop sighing a bit. "Well, this really ain't your kind of thing… but as you can tell, it was an arson. Whole place went up last night at around 4:30. No clues yet on who did it, but it looks like it was a Dust fire." the officer explained, everyone listening and looking at each other. "...Were… were there any victims?" Weiss asked the question on everyone's mind.

"About seven injured by the blast and one body found in the building." The officer said, giving a description of Tukson and explaining that he was found with a slash mark on his throat. Blake listened to the officer's explanation, nodding occasionally while staring at the wreckage behind the police."I… I see. Thank you officer, we'll leave you to your investigation." Blake said, looking down and turning around. :Y-you can let go now, I'm heading back to Beacon." she said, Sun and Weiss letting go of her. "Yo, Blake. You gonna be okay?" Sun asked as Blake walked away from the remains of Tukson's Book Trade. "Y-yeah, I'll… I'll be fine." Blake replied shakily, Weiss following after her, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Blake…" Weiss said, looking at her with concern. Blake sniffed, tears forming in the corners of her eyes. "I just... I just need to be alone, okay?" Blake asked, Weiss nodding in understanding.

Blake gently shrugged off Weiss' hand, walking away. "She'll be okay, right?" neptune asked from behind the heiress. "Give her time, she's… in a bad place right now." Weiss said, unsure as she watched Blake walk away.


	5. Chase

Blake stood on the sidewalk, looking nervously at the store in front of her. "Tukson's Book Trade…" she said to herself, reading the sign above the door. She carefully adjusted the black beret atop her head, still not yet adjusted to wearing it over her ears. "Hrm… come on! Stupid hat…" she muttered, finally getting the beret into a comfortable place on her head before slowly walking into the store. Inside was a small store with a small supply of books on the shelves, they were somewhat out of order from people constantly picking up books and putting them back down on the wrong shelves, or in the used book pile in the center of the room. She moved quietly as people read and chatted at the windowside tables, peering at titles and pulling books to see if they piqued her interest, checking the description on the back.

The smell in the store was the best part for Blake by far. There was always something inviting about the aroma of the ink and book adhesive of a new shipment of books coming in. Adding to that was a wafting smell of cinnamon and apples from scented candles on the counter, Blake letting out a relaxed sigh and smile. "Oh, this place is perfect…" she said, looking and seeing a book on the shelf that caught her eye, pulling the black book off the shelf. On the cover was an illustration of a brunette girl clad in white armor, hands tightened on the hilt of her sword and giving a determined look to the reader. The book was _Kings & Pawns: The Recoking_ by V.O. Renard. Blake looked at the back, reading the description.

 _The much-awaited sequel to writer_ V.O. Renard's _Kings & Pawns sees Samantha Freiheit, the stunning and beautiful yet completely average leader of an entire resistance of young teenagers, planning to enter stage two of their plan to destroy the corrupt government's latest attempt to train super soldiers by forcing them to fight medieval knights riding Grimm. Samantha faces great trials in choosing between Resistance member she wishes to join in an arranged marriage and the mysterious Black Knight who works as an agent for the Kingdom but saved her life in the Raid of Colosseo. Action, Drama, Romance, all await returning readers and recent converts to the literary craze sweeping Remnant in:_ Kings & Pawns: Reckoning.

"...This sounds like utter trash." Blake said, reading the description over before shrugging and heading for the counter. She rang the bell, getting the call of "Coming!" from a gruff male voice in the back, a middle-aged man with short black hair, hazel eyes and black, scraggly beard stepped up to the counter. "Welcome to Tukson's Book Trade, home to every book under the sun. How can I help you?" the man asked, Blake setting down the book. "Kings & Pawns, huh?" he said, Blake nodding. "It'll probably be a fun read and I've got to mind my budget. This stipend needs to last me a few months so I can't splurge on books." Blake admitted as Tukson rung up the book. "That'll come to 25 , how are you liking it here?" he asked.

"It's great. The place is so cozy. The scented candles are a nice touch" she said, Tukson nodding and smiling. "Heh. Good thing I thought to get them so I didn't have to run the lights for a while. Bit strong on the nose, though. Could barely tell you were a Faunus with all the cinnamon in the air." he said, Blake's eyes widening and her hand going for her beret. "Shhh! Don't say that!" Blake said in a whisper, leaning toward the counter. "Whoa, touched a nerve there! Sorry about that, just not used to Faunus around here. At least not the ones living out in the Zoo Quarter fighting in gang wars." Tukson said quietly, Blake looking around the room to make sure no one was staring at them before backing away from the counter.

"Y-yeah, just… I'm a bit of a unique case and I'd like it if people didn't go blabbing about that. Cool to see another Faunus around Vale. I'll be sure to stop by when I can. I'm Blake," the future Huntress-in-training said, offering her hand. Tukson shook it. "Tukson. Nice to meet you, Blake…" he said, the bookstore around her slowly fading away into darkness. "Blake…" Tukson's voice echoed out, his fingers slipping through hers. "No… no! Don't let go! I don't-" she said, tightening her grip, not wanting to lose her friend. The voice echoing through the darkness began to distort,going from Tukson's baritone to the higher pitches of her teammates. "Blake… Blake, is something wrong? ...BLAKE!"

Blake unburied her face from her knees, eyes still stinging and blurred slightly as she looked at her teammates, arms still wrapped tightly around her knees. Her eyes refocused to her team staring at her with looks of concern on her faces, Weiss' hand on her knee and face closest to her. "Blake… it's been a day. You can't spend the whole year locked away in the dorm," Weiss said before sitting on the bed next to her friend, putting an arm around her. "I know… I just… I want to know why." Blake began, wiping her eyes on her arm and looking at the others. Ruby put her hand on her chin and looked up to the ceiling fan in thought. "Hm… it is weird that anyone would want to attack Tukson. He seemed like such a nice guy." she said, Yang sitting down on the windowside desk.

"Could've been a robbery. Maybe the Red Lantern Family was shaking him down for protection." the older sister suggested, the others nodding in agreement. "Or the Black Fang." Weiss said, Blake shaking her head. At that. "No, Tukson didn't involve himself with the Black Fang or White Claw. He told me that he had too much to lose if he sided with radical Faunus movements after getting his citizenship in Vale," Blake replied. "But I wouldn't put it past them to attack him for being a 'traitor to his kind' so maybe."

Team RWBY continued to brainstorm the possible culprit. Ruby continued to look up at the ceiling, Weiss pacing the room between both beds. Blake stared down at the floor while Yang put her hands behind her head and began to lean back against the window when she suddenly felt no resistance behind and began to fall back. "Wh-what?! WAAAUUUGHHH!" Yang exclaimed, flailing her arms wildly as she began to fall out the window. As quickly as she fell, she was caught just as fast when a hand reached out and grabbed the collar of her jacket. "Wha? Huh?" she said confusedly before looking to see Sun, his hand on the window's ledge and tail inside the room. "And here I thought I was gonna be the one dropping in." Sun said, hearing a collective of groans from in the room.

Yang grabbed onto the lapels of Sun's shirt as he climbed into the dorm room, the two letting go once they touched floor. "Thanks Sun, so what brings you round here?" Yang asked, Weiss blinking in confusion and muttering "Why was he trying to climb through the window?" while Sun sat himself on the desk. "Well, since me and Neptune did a bit more sightseeing, we figured we'd come back and hang out with you guys. Ain't that right, Neptune?" he said, turning his head to the window. Team RWBY looked over to see Neptune hanging onto a tree branch, letting out a hushed call of "Help me." Blake quickly ran to her bag, pulling out her clawed glove and rushed back to the window, loaded and firing it to catch Neptune's jacket. Team RWBY and Sun worked to pull Neptune in as the hook retracted slowly, bringing him into the room. "Why are we going through the window? We could've just used the door!" Neptune said as his feet touched floor, Weiss throwing up her hands and exclaiming "Thank you!" before she began grumbling to herself.

Sun gave a shrug of both shoulders, putting his hands in his short pockets. "The price I pay for a bit of excitement. So, what's happening, Team RWBY?" Sun asked, Blake speaking up first. "We were… thinking about what happened to Tukson and were wondering why it happened. We haven't got a lot of leads on it, though." Blake said, Sun scratching his stubble. "Oh yeah! Almost forgot, we grabbed some stuff from the rubble when you left. Neptune, you still got the bag?" Sun asked his friend, who nodded and set down a backpack onto Weiss' bunk and opening it to pull out books that were in some readable condition, Blake looking horrorstruck at this. "SUN! These- these are from a crime scene! That's- do you want to go to jail?!" she said, struggling to find words in her incredulity. "Whoa, whoa! Calm down, Blake! We didn't take anything the police would want! Just a couple of books and some shipping orders! Nothing they'd miss, really!" Sun said, scrambling through the backpack and pulling out a stack of slightly singed papers, pages falling out of his hand.

"Give me those!" Blake snapped, swiping the papers from Sun and glaring at him. "Can't believe you! Of all the- this kind of stuff is… is… these orders. They're not books." Blake said, separating the orders and reading out the shipments. "Dust coming in from Mistral, Atlesian weaponry, ammunition… what is all this?" Blake said, reading over the papers with the rest of her team. "Sturdy documents, since they survived a fire and all." Weiss commented, Sun shrugging his shoulders. "They were just the ones that didn't get burnt. So, anything interesting about it?" he asked. "Hrm… I think I recognize a few of these company names. They're sub companies to SDC, distribution companies that ship Dust for us," Weiss said, pulling out the papers. "Yeah, and some of these were sent through Poseidon ships," Neptune pointed out. "What were these doing going to a bookstore?"

"Looks like Tukson was delivering stuff to other groups. You guys think this is what… got him in trouble?" Yang suggested, Blake looking over the orders again and again. "Much as I'd hate to think he would do something illegal, I can't ignore it when it's looking me in the face. Someone was using Tukson's shop as a drop-off point, we just need to find out who…" Blake said, Ruby immediately jumping off the bed to do an over-dramatic swirl of her cape. "Then it looks like Team RWBY is on the Case of the Burnt Bookstore!" she exclaimed, pointing to the ceiling while the rest of the assemble Hunters looked at her in silence.

"...You guys didn't have the enthusiasm for this that I was expecting." Ruby said, lowering her hand. "Well, if we're going to be investigating a murder, we'll need to come up with a plan, right?" Weiss said, Ruby nodding quickly. "Right! Plan! Well… hm… okay! We need two of us looking into the shipments to see if there's anything else about them! Since Weiss and Neptune are connected to the companies shipping them, they can cover that!" Ruby said, Weiss and Neptune nodding in unison. "Blake and Sun can head into the Zoo Quarter to check on Black Fang activity while Yang and I look around for any Red Lantern thugs!" she finished, Yang and Blake standing up.

"No way! You're not going to be tagging along to hunt for criminals!" Yang objected. "And we're not putting our friends at risk for this. I'm going into the Zoo Quarter alone." Blake said. "Gah! Insubordination! I am the leader of this team, Yang! And Blake, you can't go around in the Zoo Quarter alone! You should know how dangerous that is!" Ruby said, her right hand tightening. "And that means I know that Sun could die in there and I'm not gonna have our friends die so-" Blake shouted back only for Sun to put a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, chill out Blake. It's gonna take more than a couple of punks to put me out. I'm harder than a diamond and just as shining!" Sun said, throwing back his shirt to flash his abs. He lifted his arms above his head, bending his elbows and crossing the arms over each other. Everyone stared stunned at the monkey Faunus as he posed for several minutes before Yang finally forced her eyes away and back to her sister.

"A-anyway! Leader or not, it's too dangerous for you to go around looking for criminals!" Yang said. "You're one too talk! You'd go into bars come out covered in blood!" Ruby shot back. "That was the one time and I burned that bar to the ground!" Yang barked out, Neptune's eyes widening. "You burned down a bar?! Who are you people!?" he said, Weiss sighing in exasperation. "Welcome to my world, Neptune. Now then," Weiss said, getting between the two sister. "If the two of you are done with your squabbling, I think we have more important things to discuss-" she began when the sudden sound of rotor wash burst through the air. "What was- wait is that?" Weiss said, running to the window to see large, white airship touching down onto Beacon's landing field, surrounded by a fleet of smaller, but still impressive, airships. All ships had the mark of the Atlesian military. "It's the Avalon!" Weiss exclaimed, waving the rest of the Hunters to the window.

The six cluttered around the window, looking as the Avalon's doors opened and a set of airstairs were placed, General Ironwood stepping out flanked by a small detachment of robotic guards. Unlike the Atlesian Knights they had seen before, these new knights were more slender and now in a sparkling white armor and moved much more smoothly than the clunky, plodding motions of the previous robots. "Looks like they've got some new bots." Yang said, though Weiss and Ruby were more interested in Ironwood's entourage. The general was followed by two more, a tall woman with a tight bun of light blonde hair and ice blue eyes in a white overcoat, gray undercoat and red tie matching Ironwood's attire and a young girl with short, curly orange hair and bright green eyes wearing a green blouse, black overalls, black leather boots with neon green lining, black bow and a white overcoat that still looked too big for her.

"It's Winter!" Weiss said excitedly, smiling as she turned to Ruby, who had a large grin across her face. "Penny!" the red-caped Huntress shouted, rushing out the room, knocking overs over to make her way into the hall. "Ack! Ruby, wait up!" Weiss called after her partner, chasing after Ruby, the rest of the room running off after them. As Weiss ran through the halls, she turned sharp around a corner and collided into Jaune who was running out from the library, sending them crashing to the floor, sending the contents of bag all around. "Whoa! Ow… oh, hey Weiss." Jaune said, slowly getting up, Weiss pushing herself off of the fallen Hunter. "Hello Jaune, sorry about that. I was trying to catch up to Ruby. See, my sister just came up to the school and I wanted to see her before she got too busy with General Ironwood's work." she said, offering Jaune a hand up, which he took to pick himself up. "Oh, that's cool. I could come with you. I'm on the way to the airfield too." he said, reloading his backpack with Weiss' help. "Sure, come on. We're not gonna have a lot time if we're just standing around." the heiress said, running off with Jaune in tow.

Neptune looked at the two running by, talking out of earshot to him. "You don't think they're together, do you?" he asked Sun, who shrugged, hands behind his back. "Nah, man. They're just hanging out. Just because two people are friendly with each other doesn't mean they're gonna be making out in the hallways the second you turn their back to them." Sun replied. "I guess so. Besides, Jaune's kind of a dork." Neptune said, Sun chuckling and shaking his head. "This is gonna take a while…"


	6. Sisters

Jaune raced through the airfield, looking at each of the ships before spotting Team CFVY boarding their airship and chasing after them. "Velvet! VELVET!" he called, waving to her as she handed luggage to Yatsuhashi.

"Hm? Oh, Jaune! You caught me just in time!" Velvet said with a smile as Jaune came to a stop, hands on his knees as he caught his breath.

"Hah… hah… yeah, just wanted to see you off. Good luck on your mission." Jaune said, smiling back.

"Thank you, it shouldn't be too bad. We're going to be posted in a small village for a few weeks to deal with a pack of Beowolves." Velvet said.

"Oh, cool. So hey... when you get back, you wanna… I dunno, catch a movie? Like, there's this one movie coming out, _Carnivore Cruise Line_. It looks like it'd be fun, ya kn-" Jaune said, Weiss clearing her throat behind him. The young lovers turned to look at Weiss, who was giving a somewhat annoyed glare at Jaune.

"Really, Jaune? Your idea of a romantic night is a low-grade movie about sharks attacking a cruise ship? Are you going to take her to Burgershire for dinner before the movie? Maybe sneak in some fries in your jacket instead of going to the concession stand?" Weiss chided, Jaune growling a bit.

"Have you ever bought movie theater candy? That's expensive! Five Lien for a small popcorn! That's highway robbery! It's way cheaper to just buy it elsewhere!" he argued, Weiss turning up her nose.

"Exactly my point! Not willing to spend money to give your girlfriend a good time! What kind of boyfriend are you?!" Weiss asked, arms crossed and giving a judgemental glare.

"Big talk from the girl who could buy the whole theater! Besides, it's a first date! What's your idea of a first date?" Jaune shot back.

"Well, I'd take her to an establishment with a bit more class than a place with the… ugh, Prima Nocta Meal." Weiss said with disgust, Jaune facepalming.

"They canceled that promotion after a week!" he argued, Weiss rolling her eyes.

"My point is, not a fast food place. I'd take her to a nice seafood restaurant. Maybe the Ocean King. It has quality seafood and these wonderful cheddar biscuits that are just to die for!" Weiss said with a blissful sigh, Jaune and Velvet looking at her in confusion.

"O...kay… so, what kind of movie would you take your date on?" Jaune asked, Weiss shaking out of her cheddar biscuit euphoria.

"Well, the obvious choice would be an actual romantic film, maybe a dark romance like _Temptation of Dusk_. You know, a movie with some substance to it." she replied.

"Those vampire romance movies are just as trash as my monster movies, but at least the monster movies are honest!" Jaune said, flailing his arms angrily.

"They are not trash! They are evocative and moving films!" Weiss shouted, getting in Jaune's face. The two glared at each other intensely, Velvet awkwardly clearing her throat.

"U-um… Jaune, I-I have to be going soon…" she said, Jaune turning his attention back to the bunny girl, the fire in his eyes subsiding.

"Oh-oh! Right! So yeah, dinner and a movie when you come back?" he asked, Weiss sighing and walking off behind them.

"I'd like that. Don't worry, I'm not a big fan of seafood." she said with a giggle, Jaune smiling back.

"Cool. Oh hey, you got a new camera!" Jaune said, pointing to the camera holstered to her hip.

"Oh! I almost forgot! This is my new Photon DCSI. It's really cool." Velvet said, pulling the camera out.

"Ooh! Could you make a quick pose with your sword? I've been getting pictures from all my friends for a new album with this one." she asked, Jaune nodding and sliding his sheath onto his arm. He pulled his sword from the sheath and unfolded the sheath into his sword, taking a defensive stance with his shield in front. Velvet quickly snapped off a few photos, little flashes coming off the camera. She walked around him, taking pictures from different angles, with the occasional whirring sound after the picture was taken.

"And… done! Thanks, Jaune. I'll have them developed during the trip. So, I guess this is goodbye for now. I'll see you in a week or two." she said, holstering the camera and stepping onto the ramp.

"Yeah, I'll see you soon." Jaune, slowly moving in for a goodbye hug. Velvet reached over to return the hug, unaware of the looming presence of her team leader. Coco slowly advanced to the couple, devilish grin on her face and manic gleam in her eyes as she put a hand on Velvet's back. Velvet let out a small gasp as she felt the sudden jolt of Coco's fingers when she was shoved right onto Jaune. The two fell onto the ground, Jaune catching Velvet in his arms, their lips meeting forcefully as their foreheads slammed together. Jaune lied on the ground, eyes wide in shock and face burning. He felt the softness of her lips, his nostrils filled with the scent of caramel from her hair, hands at her sides. It would have been the best moment in Jaune's life if it weren't for the throbbing pain in his head and soreness in his back.

Velvet pulled herself off of Jaune, blushing dark red and scrambling to her feet. "Ah! S-sorry Jaune!" she said, giving him a hand. Jaune took it, getting to his feet and dusting himself off.

"I-it's okay… good luck on your mission." Jaune said, trying to keep from maintaining eye contact for too long.

"Th-thanks, if we make it back in time, w-would you like to go to the Spring Maiden dance with me?" she asked, slowly moving backwards up the ramp.

"Y-yeah, that sounds cool…" Jaune mumbled out, Velvet letting out a soft "thanks, bye..." before getting into the airship.

"I wonder if your second kiss will give you a concussion?" Coco asked with a sly smile, Velvet angrily glaring at her team leader.

"Coco! That wasn't funny!" she exclaimed, Coco laughing as the door shut behind them. Jaune waved to goodbye to them and watched as the airship lifted off and flew off through the sky.

Weiss and Ruby sat on a nearby bench, watching Team CFVY's ship flying off and seeing Jaune walk back to the school, Ruby struggling to open a bag of chips.

"Come on, stupid chips! I want to eat you!" she pleaded, gripping tightly on the bag and pushing all the air to the bottom. The bag soon burst, chips spilling out all over the bench and street. Ruby let out a moan and tossed the bag out, crunching chips on the ground.

"So, how's Velvet?" Ruby asked, heading off to the school entrance where General Ironwood and his crew were headed.

"She looks to be alright, though her taste in boys remains questionable." Weiss replied as she got up to join her partner.

"What's wrong with Jaune? He's a nice guy. Friendly, loyal, funny…" Ruby said, Weiss shaking her head.

"Oh no, I'm not saying Jaune isn't nice, but he has no idea of what a romantic evening entails." the heiress said, Ruby shrugging her shoulders.

"Okay then… let's get going before we lose them." she said, kicking up her Semblance to run up to them.

"Ruby! Wait up!" Weiss shouted, chasing after her with a familiar annoyance in her voice.

As Ironwood walked up to the entrance he was giving instructions to his entourage. "You're not to leave sight of Lieutenant Schnee or go past Vale's Residential or Commercial Districts, Penny." he said, Penny nodding and replying with "Yes, sir." Ironwood turned his eyes to Winter. "Lieutenant, you cannot let Penny out of your sight for a second. Beacon may be a safe place, but the rest of Vale carries a lot of danger in its streets. You never know when someone could attack-" Ironwood warned when a sudden red blur flashed through his vision. The Atlesian trio followed the blur to the entrance door that Ruby had slammed into. Ruby barely broke stride as he ran right for Penny, arms outstretched. "PENNY!" she shouted excitedly, jumping into the air.

"Ruby!" Penny said with joy, catching Ruby into a spine-shattering hug. "Oh, I've missed you so much!" she said as Ruby let out a sharp squeal of pain.

"I've missed you too, Penny… though I didn't miss your super-painful hugs… owowowowOW!" Ruby said before Penny let her go.

"Sorry I haven't written to you recently, Ruby. Things have been rather busy at Mantle and I just haven't had time." Penny said as Ruby tried to gather breath.

"It's.. ow… it's okay, Penny. I've had my team to keep me company, but it's so great to see you again! We could go to the new arcade that opened up, or maybe a trip to Rolling Thunder, or we could get a Royal Banquet Meal at Burgershire, oooh! How about we-" Ruby went on before James put a hand in front of her.

"Ruby, while it is kind of you to offer Penny a trip around Vale, we are here on official business with Mantle and Penny is under strict instructions to stay under the watchful eye of either myself or Lieutenant-" Ironwood began before being cut off by Weiss shouting from behind.

"Winter!" she called, running up to the group and waving, Winter turning with a warm smile.

"Ah, Weiss. It's good to see you again, dear sister. To what do I owe the pleasure?" the older Schnee asked as Weiss came to a stop and saluted General Ironwood before speaking.

"Well, it's not often my older sister comes into town. What's the occasion?" Weiss asked.

"General Ironwood is here on a visit to present the newest model of Atlas technology, and since we have time, he wanted to visit Professor Ozpin." Winter explained. "However, I also have a bit of business with you, Weiss." the older Schnee said, turning to one of the Knights. "There is a long briefcase in my cabin, marked with an Atlas Arms brand. Retrieve it." she ordered, the robot soldier marching off. "So, Renewal has passed, but I did make the effort to give you a present and I wanted to give you something to congratulate you for a job well done on your work in Beacon's final exam. Ah, and here it is." Winter said as the night returned, placing the briefcase down at Winter's feet.

She pulled out a small white card, placing it into the slot on each of the locks and waiting for a click. Once unlocked, she opened the case to reveal the contents inside. Weiss looked at in shock, Ruby looking over her shoulder in admiration and Penny standing beside them and clearing her throat. "Presenting: The Myrtenaster Mk II!" she declared, sweeping her hand over the sword. It had the same basic design as the first Myrtenaster, though with a full blade and handguard. The handguard was engraved with intricately designed snowflakes and above the handguard was the Dust chamber, waiting to be loaded with fresh Dust. The hilt of the sword was wrapped in a black leather, the blade marked with a carving of the letters "W.S" Weiss slowly lifted the sword, letting out a few grunts of struggle as she brought it to her face, holding it in her basic stance.

"It's… a bit heavier than I'm used to. It'll take some time to figure out." Weiss said, putting her other hand on the barrel and spinning it. Winter smiled, pulling out a small vial of white Dust from her pocket and loading it into the chamber. Weiss spun it, hearing the click of the ice Dust loading and pulling the trigger, the blade glowing a bright white and emitting a cold mist.

"It still functions much like the original Myrtenaster, so while you you'll need to relearn slightly, the mechanics will be second nature to you, Weiss looked at the sword in awe, smiling wider and wider.

"Thank you so much, Winter! I love it! I can't wait to show this to Blake!" Weiss said joyfully, performing a quick spin and slashing the ice out of her sword, grabbing onto it with her other hand to keep from dropping it as a slash of ice formed on the entrance door.

"Ah yes, your teammate. You mentioned her in a few letters. Perhaps we shall meet her." Winter said, Weiss' excitement at her new sword stopping and her eyes widening slightly.

"You know, we haven't seen Blake and Yang around in a while. Wonder where they've gone off to." Ruby said, looking around the group to look for their teammates.

"Maybe they're busy studying. We did just come off a long vacation from actual schoolwork." Weiss said quickly to Ruby before turning to her sister. "So, Winter. Since you're here, maybe we could do some catching up. Some sightseeing, maybe lunch if you have time." she said hopefully.

"Negative. General Ironwood has given me clear instructions to guard his apprentice over this stay, and-" Winter began before Ruby interrupted.

"We could come with! I promise I won't let her out of your sight, Lieutenant Schnee!" Ruby said with a salute, Weiss pulling her hand down and shaking her head in embarrassment. Penny moved in front of the Beacon huntresses, hands clasped together and eyes sparkling with hope.

"Oh please, Winter! Can we go? I've been doing really well in my studies and I don't get to hang out with my friends a lot and Vale is so nice this time of year and-" Penny begged before Winter put up a hand to stop her.

"At ease, Private." Winter commanded before turning to Ironwood. "General, a word in private?" Ironwood nodded and climbed up the steps, Winter following stairs, Winter following after him and stopping at the doors, the two conversing quietly.

"So, should we go grab Blake and Yang? They can probably skip a bit of studying and Yang's probably bored out of her skull right now." she said, Weiss shaking her head.

"Ruby, I don't think Blake is actually studying. It's more likely that she's avoiding Winter." Weiss said, Ruby tilting her head a bit in confusion.

"Huh? Avoiding Winter? How come?" Ruby asked.

"Remember last year how I told you and Yang about the Black Fang kidnapping me? About Blake…" Weiss began, putting her hands on near her back scars briefly before Ruby nodded.

"Yeah, I remember that." Ruby said, nodding her head and listening.

"Well, when they didn't return me quickly, Winter had gone out to get me back. She performed the rescue operation and saw Blake's face. Blake might be thinking that Winter will still remember her even with the disguise and that it would be better to lay low." Weiss explained.

"I guess so, but how would you know what Blake's thinking without her saying it? ...Can you read minds?" Ruby asked, Weiss rolling her eyes.

"No, Ruby. She's just brought these concerns up to me before when we've talked about Winter. Now then, it looks like they're wrapping things up." Weiss said as General Ironwood gave a nod, Winter saluting him before they stepped back down the stairs. Penny and Ruby ran up to the veteran Hunters in hopeful excitement.

"So, can me and Ruby go and see the rest of Vale? Can we, can we, can we?!" Penny asked, bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet as the General chuckled a bit.

"Lieutenant Schnee made a rather compelling argument in your case, and she is a talented enough Huntress to handle three junior Huntresses, so I see no harm in it. You are allowed to go sightseeing for today." Ironwood said, Penny and Ruby jumping for joy and high-fiving, Ruby making a point to quickly channel her aura into her hand to prevent her palm from being hurt. "However, you will be back in time for the presentation in the Commercial District. That will be in roughly three hours time, so please keep that in mind." he said, Penny saluting him before turning to Ruby, who had the widest grin on her face. Penny returned the smile in kind and the two ran off for the gates.

"Ruby! Wait up! We're supposed to be going with Winter!" Weiss shouted, chasing after them, Winter laughing and shaking her head.

"I envy you right now, General. At least you'll be dealing with someone around your age." Winter said, James letting out a deep chuckle.

"Perhaps, but Oz can be somewhat difficult to handle himself. See you in three hours, Lieutenant. Dismissed." he said, Winter saluting and chasing off after the junior Huntresses while Ironwood heading once more for the doors. He entered the school, heading for the elevator and stepping in, pressing the button for the top floor. The muzak droned on as the elevator quickly ascended, coming to a stop and opening the doors. Ironwood walked over to Ozpin's office door, knocking. "Come in." Ozpin said from behind the door, James opening and stepping in, looking around the office.

The office was rather simple; bookshelves filled with dust-covered books, a big grandfather clock ticking behind Beacon's headmaster who was sitting at his large oak desk, Glynda Goodwitch standing next to the desk. Spanning the circular room's acrylic floor was a giant copper gear, matching the gears of the grandfather clock. "Welcome, James. I was wondering when you would be joining us." Ozpin said, reaching out his hand as Ironwood entered the room, the two shaking hands.

"Had a bit of a hold-up with my apprentice," the General said, taking a seat and turning to Glynda with a wink. "Glynda, you're looking as lovely as ever." he said, Glynda rolling her eyes and laughing softly.

"Seems that time hasn't stopped you much, James. So, what's brings you to our Kingdom?" she asked as Ozpin poured the General a cup of coffee. Ironwood reached into his pocket and pulling out a silver flask, unscrewing the cap and pouring out a bit of amber liquid into his cup before capping and putting the flask back.

"A few things, mostly to showcase the newest models of Atlesian Military Tech. Dr. Arc is overseeing the transfer personally. Said something about wanting to see her little brother. But as for why I'm visiting Beacon… well, you've probably received the correspondence from Crowe." Ironwood said, pulling out his phone and scrolling through until stopping and setting it down on the table. A holographic, flickering image of a tall man with black, spiky hair and dark green eyes, face covered in stubble. He was clad in a gray dress shirt, black pants and tattered red cloak.

"The Red Queen's got herself some pawns. She's gonna be moving to finish what she started. No idea what she's got planned to do it, but it's gotta be big. I'm gonna be gathering intel in Vacuo, you guys focus on keeping things in Vale under control. I'm out." The man slurred out, the message shutting off and Ironwood picking his phone back up.

"If what Crowe said is true, then we will need to act. While the new Atlesian Knights are not prepared, the older model should be enough to strike down any opposition. Stop her before she has time to act" Ironwood said, Ozpin taking a sip of coffee and pushing up his glasses.

"No, I don't think that will be necessary just yet, James." he said, the General looking from Ozpin to Glynda, who nodded in agreement, then back to Ozpin. "I believe that our best option will be wait until we have a clear idea of what the Red Queen is planning before we act. While I can agree with wanting to prevent her plan, we will first need to understand the full extent of that plan." Ozpin said, James putting a hand to his chin in thought.

"It's a high-risk idea, allowing her forces to continue the plan without placing any countermeasures. We lack a proper timescale and they could go into motion by tomorrow." Ironwood argued.

"And if we act without knowledge, we could end up startling them into launching their plan ahead of time before we really knew what it was." Glynda countered, Ozpin nodding and taking another sip of coffee.

"And knowing the Red Queen as we do, we cannot rule out the possibility of her having contingencies for Atlesian Military. For now, perhaps Crowe's message has the best course of action for us. Gather intel, check for any suspicious activity. Now, I hate to cut this meeting short, James, but I believe you have a presentation to go to. We will talk again if you have time" Ozpin said, James nodding and standing up, shaking hands with him and Glynda.

"Before I go, Oz, I wanted to ask a question to you. Headmaster to Headmaster." Ironwood said politely.

"Ask away, James." Ozpin said.

"Do you believe that your students can win a war?" the General asked.

"While I hope that they never have to fight, I do believe they will answer the call to battle and win if the need should arise." Ozpin said. James smiling and walking out of the room. "Good afternoon, General Ironwood. Good luck at the presentation."

"Thank you, Oz. Good day, we'll keep in touch." Ironwood said as he closed the door behind him.


End file.
